Serpico

The true story about an honest New York cop who blew the whistle on rampant corruption in the force only to have his comrades turn against him.

• Director: Sidney Lumet
• Genre:Crime / Drama
• Runtime:125 minutes

Cast

Al Pacino : Officer Frank Serpico

John Randolph : Chief Sidney Green
Jack Kehoe : Tom Keough
Biff McGuire : Capt. Insp. McClain
Barbara Eda-Young: Laurie

The film opens with Frank Serpico (Al Pacino) covered in blood and slumped in the backseat of a police car as it races to a hospital with lights and sirens blaring. He has just been shot in the face. The rest of the movie tells the story of Serpico’s career up to this moment, starting with him becoming a police officer in 1960. He is idealistic and often frustrated by internal politics. Serpico also refuses to join in on police corruption, specifically that which involves shaking down and taking payoffs from gambling and drug dealing organizations. His refusal to take bribes earns him the suspicion of his fellow officers throughout the majority of the precincts to which he is assigned. Additionally, Serpico finds trouble fitting in due to his embrace of the counterculture of the 1960s: He moves to Greenwich Village, grows his hair and beard long in order to maintain a more plainclothes appearance, and associates with a more left-wing crowd distrusts the NYPD. He is wounded and shot in the cheek in a hallway shootout but survives. Read more