The House Next Door

In the vein of those inexplicable coincidences that seem to occur quite frequently, I watched Carlito's Way for the first time last night, to check The House the next morning and find your piece. Like something straight out of Kieslowski.

Excellent writing Matt. There aren't many serious pieces on Carlito's Way, sans for the Slant and Senses of Cinema ones - this seems to be one of those even depalmaphiles tend to ignore.

I'm still sorting out my feelings about the film, namely to say I really enjoyed watching it, but will need a few more viewings to decide whether or not it is a masterpiece. Without a doubt this is not a measly for-hire pic many have shrugged off. Pacino in the lead role was key (and he gives a fine performance) to make the film a successful deconstruction of Scarface, and like you stated, not an apology.

I could have done without Viggo's scene, but what about Miller did you feel was miscast? The comparison to Keaton is quite valid, but I do not find it hurts the film in any way. Any other actress you would have preferred?

Simon: I thought Miller was just kind of flat and blah. She's always likable and competent but somehow, for me at least, never quite charming, much less exciting. Because of the Keatonesque quality of some of her banter with Pacino, I thought of how much better Keaton would have been in the role. It's fun to think about Keaton, who's close to Pacino's age, playing Gail; she'd probably have to have had some other job, though -- I read somewhere that in Torres' fiction, she was a schoolteacher. Frankly, the role's such an archetype, or if you prefer, a total cliche (like pretty much every other role in the movie -- it's like a western in that way) that it needed an enchantress to put it over the top, someone who's just a living doll, a total movie star. Miller's not that, though she has her strong points.

Thanks to De Palma's romantic setpieces (particularly that incredible sequence where she's in ballet class and he's watching her from a rooftop across the street, absolutely stricken), plus Pacino's charisma and his peerless ability to making the act of listening exciting, I've just kind of made up my mind to accept their deep connection as a given. But I don't think it quite comes through onscreen -- at least not in the same way that I see the Nancy Allen-John Travolta connection in Blow Out. I believe them as a loving couple that reunites after a long separation, with both of them pleasantly surprised at how comfortable it feels to be togther again. But the comfort level is about all I get out of it. I certainly don't sense enough passion to match that powerful closing image where the travel poster comes to life. But that image is so multilayered in its meanings and assocations that the movie's great anyway.

Great article. My husband read it this morning, and dusted off the DVD from our collection. I'd only seen the film once, and had dismissed it as lesser de Palma, but it really holds up to a second viewing. Thanks for writing such a gorgeous piece & getting us to watch this movie again.

About Miller:
She has no weight to her. She's utterly ungrounded, and I don't buy that she could have put up with Carlito in any kind of sustained relationship. Her performance got us speculating on recasting, which led us into a conversation about the superlative Nancy Allen. As good as she is, Allen couldn't have played this part as it's written--could you imagine her asking Carlito, "Have you ever killed anybody?" I can HEAR her rolling her eyes. But I would have loved to see an Allen character opposite Carlito... someone just a little bit evil, more than a little damaged. To see Nancy Allen choose to believe his dream about the Bahamas--now that would be something.