Scarface

Directed by Howard Hawks, Scarface follows Paul Muni’s Tony Camonte as he murders his way to the top of Chicago’s underground mob scene. Filmmaker Hawks, working from Ben Hecht’s screenplay, delivers an exceedingly erratic endeavor that gets off to a rather bumpy start, as the movie’s far-from-streamlined first half contains few elements designed to initially capture the viewer’s interest and attention – with the arms-length atmosphere compounded by a periodically bewildering narrative (ie there are just so many similar-sounding gangster names). It’s clear, then, that Scarface improves considerably once it progresses into a midsection peppered with engrossing sequences (eg an bowling-alley execution, a car chase, etc), while the bleak conclusion does ensure that the whole thing finishes on a rather memorable note – with the end result a decent-enough piece of work that’s rarely, if ever, as compelling as its intense lead performance.

**1/2 out of ****