The best of Al Pacino: Serpico

1. Serpico
2. The Godfather
3. Dog Day Afternoon
4. Scarface
5. Looking for Richard
6. The Godfather Part II
7. Carlito's Way
8. Sea of Love
My real motive here is to proclaim my love of Serpico, which I first saw about ten years ago and instantly supplanted The Godfather as my favorite Pacino movie. Why? I thought the movie was going to be a placard-waver, a denuncication, an expose. Nothing could be further from the truth: Frank Serpico is no whistle-blower or crusader for the truth. He's not doing it to right a wrong, or avenge an injustice. He's just trying not to take a bribe himself. That's all. Doesn't care if you take one. Doesnt care if you don't. He just doesn't want to take one himself. And that brings down the system. It's one of the few sanctimony-free portraits of goodness in American movies.