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Al Pacino stars in the true story of Frank Serpico, a New York City cop who discovers a city-wide bribe scheme police are profiting from and rejects becoming part of it. But in doing so, he loses the trust of all the other cops and becomes a laughing stock… and then a target.

I love Sidney Lumet movies and I love Al Pacino, but after hearing about Serpico for a lifetime, I have to say it just wasn’t what I was hoping it would be. There’s very little tension, mystery, or action. Serpico discovers the corruption one year and keeps working within the system for several more years before doing anything substantial about it. I understand it’s difficult for one lone cop to buck the system, but it doesn’t make for a very exciting movie. The stakes never seem high, and quite frankly, Serpico is a weird little character that I kept at arm’s length.

Once I realized Serpico wasn’t a genre picture, it turned out to be an all right character study. Albeit, one that telegraphs its climax well in advance and ends anti-climactically.

Oscar Nominations: Best Actor (Al Pacino), Best Adapted Screenplay