Serpico is unfortunately a timeless classic despite being set in 1960s to 1970s NYC. With groups like Cop Block uncovering crimes like murder and rape by cops like Daniel Holtzclaw, Serpico seems comparatively mild and tame since it just deals with cops taking bribes and not doing their jobs. Serpico as a film is probably responsible for a lot of film tropes that are common place now so it may seem less groundbreaking and closer to a tv movie than it was when Serpico was released in theaters.
Serpico begins with the end-the titular character is shot, and everyone wonders if another cop did it. Serpico then consists of one long flashback to show how he started off as an innocent hardworking cop on the street to a disillusioned, persecuted, irascible undercover cop in narcotics. It doesn’t help that Serpico is honest, just wants to do his job well and is different from his fellow cops. Serpico is a bit of a bohemian, isn’t afraid of culture (music and dance) and looks more like a hippy than the average cop. It isn’t long before Serpico figures out that looking the other way isn’t enough. If Serpico doesn’t actively become corrupt, his career and life are in danger. Serpico’s tension rests in who are his actual allies and who is stringing him along either to maintain the status quo or out of self-interest indifference.
Serpico is the opposite of The French Connection. Instead of vast international criminal conspiracies versus one lone cop, it is a vast local conspiracy against one lone cop except it isn’t a criminal enterprise, but criminal acts with the veneer of authority. Because most people know Serpico’s real life story, Serpico as a movie feels long because we already know what is going to happen so what was once a nuanced depiction of the ground slowly eroding around Serpico until there was nothing left now feels repetitive. Al Pacino seems vulnerable and is depicted as a Christ like figure throughout the beginning of the film. When he gets to his table-flipping scene, it is just as shocking and overdue, particularly since he is so small and decent in comparison to his fellow detectives.
Serpico is a must see film, but if you are less than impressed or impatient with the pacing, remember that Serpico is responsible for what made movies great and what we largely take for granted.