|
 musingly,
when he's doing voiceover narration for
"Carlito's Way: Rise to Power", star Jay
Hernandez seems to be doing his best Al Pacino
impression. And there are moments in the film when
Hernandez is doing Pacino as well, but they're far
and in-between, leaving you to wonder if
writer/director Michael Bregman ever bothered to
remind the young actor that he was, in fact,
playing a younger version of the character played
by Al Pacino in 1993's "Carlito's Way".
In any case, there's some mild entertainment to be
had watching Hernandez sometimes remember to play
the character as Pacino, and other times not even
bothering. You would think the studio could pay
someone to stand on the set everyday to remind
him, but I guess not.
"Carlito's Way: Rise to
Power" is billed as a prequel to the 1993
film with Pacino, based on the crime novel by
Edwin Torres (who, in a bit of trivia, is a Judge
for the New York State Supreme Court). Written and
directed by Michael Scott Bregman who, according
to his credits on IMDB.com, was once the
"editing assistant" on Oliver Stone's
seminal ethnic gangster film "Scarface".
In "Rise to Power", Bregman spins the
tale of a young Carlito, who at the age of 21 is
recently released from prison. Carlito and two
fellow inmates, the black Earl (a fantastic Mario
Van Peeples) and the Italian Rocco (an underused
Michael Kelly) soon go into business bringing
cocaine to the poor neighborhoods of
New York
. Mother Teresa these guys ain't.
In-between his drug dealings,
Carlito has time to hustle feisty coat check girl
Leticia (Jaclyn DeSantis), while trying to
convince her he's a musician booker. Of course she
doesn't buy it, and soon she's exposed him for the
gangster he is. Not that this means he's off her
"to date" list, because soon the two are
soaking in the bathtub together and Carlito is
having dinner with her family. Meanwhile, Earl is
having trouble with his ne'er-do-well younger
brother Reggie (Mtume Gant), who claims to be a
militant black man, but as Carlito correctly
points out, has never had to work a day in his
life thanks to big brother Earl. And looming in
the background is
Harlem
kingpin Hollywood Nicky (rap mogul Sean Combs, in
a surprisingly effective turn) and the Italian
mob.
Alas, "Carlito's Way:
Rise to Power" is very routine stuff, and
despite some good moments, it's an average film
through and through. The movie's best moments
don't even have anything to do with Carlito's
gangster pals, but instead the confrontations
between Carlito and Leticia's brother. The rest of
the film is stitched together of unspectacular
moments, and toward its Second Act, "Rise to
Power" takes a curious turn by making the
Reggie character into a major player. The militant
teen complicates matters so much that the Italians
send for their ace hitman played by Luiz Guzman,
who was actually in the original "Carlito's
Way", though as another character. Here,
Guzman is an amiable killer with an intolerable
propensity for cocaine and good times.
Of the cast, the one that
makes the best impression is Mario van Peeples
("Ali"),
who delivers an excellent, controlled performance
as gangster Earl. Peeples seems to be channeling
his old man as he struts about the neighborhood in
his pimp gear, looking every bit like the fly mofo
you expect the coolest brother in the '70s to
look. It's too bad there's not nearly enough of
Peeples, because Hernandez ("Friday
Night Lights"), though he's not a bad
actor, is simply underwhelming in the lead.
Oftentimes you are hardpressed to figure out who
the film's main star is, as Hernandez's Carlito
lacks any of the spark or magnetism that Pacino
once charged the character with. Of course
comparing Hernandez to Pacino is grossly unfair,
but even so, it's somewhat shocking just how muted
Hernandez is in the role.
The other nitpick with
"Rise to Power" is that there's no real
connection between this prequel and the Al Pacino
version aside from the fact that both films use
the same character. There are no references or
appearances to David Kleinfeld, the troublesome
lawyer played by Sean Penn in the 1993 version, or
Gail, the woman Carlito was so in love with he
tried to go straight for. Or if Bregman did
introduce them somewhere within the film, I didn't
catch it. Of course, "Carlito's Way" was
12 years ago, and though a good film, it's by no
means Pacino's most memorable movie or role.
As a standalone film about
some guy name Carlito, "Rise to Power"
is a competent, and entertaining enough gangster
film. To be sure, writer/director Bregman shows no
real flourishes with the camera, and the film
oftentimes gives off the feel of an HBO or
Showtime original movie instead of something that
might have, at one point in time, been made for
theatrical release. There's also a mild plot twist
at the end that doesn't really qualify as a plot
twist, and how the film sews up its gangster
problems is a bit lacking. Overall, "Rise to
Power" makes for a decent diversion,
especially as a straight-to-video movie, but you
wouldn't want to put it up next to the original by
a long shot. Though unexceptional, it's by no
means bad. |
