Carlito's Way

Somebody's pullin' me close to the ground.

I can sense, but I can't see.

I ain't panicked. I been here before.

Same as when I got popped on 104th Street.

Don't take me to no hospital, please.

Fuckin' emergency rooms don't save nobody.

Sons of bitches always pop you at midnight

when all they got is a Chinese intern with a dull spoon.

Look at these suckers scramblin' around. What for?

My Puerto Rican ass ain't supposed to have made it this far.

Most of my crew got washed a long time ago.

Don't worry. My heart, it don't ever quit.

I ain't ready to check out.

Seems like I just got out of the joint.

Stood up in front of that judge and told him what was who.

Now I ain't sayin' that my way would have been different

had my mother been alive when I was a kid, 'cause that's all you hear in the joint.

"I didn't have a chance." No. Bullshit.

I was already a mean little bastard while my mother was alive, and I know it.

But I learned about women from her.

Mr. Brigante, there are 56 cases on the court's docket for this morning.

Why am I listening to this?

Your Honor, Mr. Brigante is understandably excited

having been vindicated after five years of incarceration.

There's no vindication here, Counselor.

Or absolution, or benediction, or anything,

other than an incredible convergence of circumstances

which you have exploited to your client's benefit.

With all due respect, Your Honor, these circumstances that you speak of

include illegal wiretaps and tainted evidence.

This is a classic "fruit of a poisoned tree" situation.

I think after five years of unjust incarceration

it is reasonable to request Mr. Brigante be indulged his right to speak.

Okay, Mr. Brigante, I'm all ears.

Your Honor,

with all due respect,

past and present, and without further to-do.

Let me assure this court that I am through walkin' on the wild side.

That's all I've been tryin' to tell you.

I have been sick with the social ills known in the ghetto

but my time in the sterling correctional facilities

of Green Haven and Sing Sing has not been in vain. I've been cured!

Born again, like the Watergaters.

I know you heard this rap before. Your Honor, I mean it.

This is the truth. I changed.

I changed and it didn't take no 30 years

like Your Honor thought, but only five.

That's right, sir. Five years.

And look at me. Completely rehabilitated,

reinvigorated, reassimilated, and finally gonna be relocated.

And I want to thank a lot of people for that.

I look over there and I see that man there, Mr. Norwalk.

I want to thank you, sir, for making the tapes in an illegal fashion.

I would like to thank the Court of Appeals for reversing you, Your Honor.

And I want to thank.

Almighty God without whom no case gets tossed.

I can't believe this.

I must have forgot. How could I forget,

my dear, close friend and lawyer,

David Kleinfeld, who never gave up on me

through everything, thick and thin.

Why don't you just stand up?

I'm sorry.

Mr. Brigante!

Davey Kleinfeld.

Mr. Brigante, you're not accepting an award.

Court of Appeals' decision

and the District Attorney's unfortunate investigative techniques,

now devolve upon me the painful duty of unleashing upon society

a reputed assassin and convicted purveyor of narcotics.

No! Never convicted on no dope.

The indictment is dismissed. Prisoner is discharged. Call the next case.

I'm indebted to you.

Okay.

I feel like I won.

Excuse me. Congratulations.

No hard feelings, right?

I'll be seeing you, Brigante.

That was some line of crap you handed him in there.

That was no line of crap, man. I meant every word I said.

You don't understand. You don't get it.

I'm a free man, and I don't mean just out of jail.

"I am free at last, free at last,"

"thank God Almighty, I am free at last!"

I gotta work here. Save your energy.

Wait till you see what I got lined up for tonight.

So what are you gonna do for money? Hook up with Rolando again?

I told you, I ain't goin' back to the street.

Twenty-five years I worked that sucker.

What do I got to show for it? Squat.

You dancing with me or you dancing with him?

What does that mean, "I ain't goin' back on the street"?

What else do you know how to do?

I got plans, baby.

Talk to me.

'Cause you can dance with him if you wanna.

I know Dave since he was just out of law school.

He was workin' as a clerk for a big mob lawyer.

Kept a tire iron under the seat of his car, tried like hell not to look scared

by all his wise-guy clients.

But Davey Kleinfeld, he ain't scared no more.

So look at you.

You really made something of your life.

You put me in business. All my first clients came through you.

As I say, you know, top drawer.

You're top drawer, Davey.

Man.

Listen, I got something for you. You remember Saso?

Saso. Yeah.

Fat guy, had the Argentine place on Madison?

He bought the lease on this bankrupt disco. Beautiful place.

I got some investors together and we backed him.

I got $50,000 in the place.

Problem is Saso. He's been shakin' the till, payin' off gambling debts.

He says if he doesn't get $25,000, he's gonna lose his lease.

I like the place. I go there sometimes.

The money's no big deal. I don't mind puttin' it in

as long as I know there's someone there who's gonna run the place straight, clean.

Me?

I owned clubs. I never ran 'em.

What's the big deal? You step in, straighten things out,

you take a salary, a chunk of the profits.

Please.

You've done enough already for me, Dave.

You call it a favor between friends.

No favor. I owe you.

Favor gonna kill you faster than a bullet.

You saved my life.

You saved my life, Dave.

Thirty years. You know what that is?

I was dead. I was buried. I was under the ground.

You dug me up.

I don't know what to say to you.

I just don't know what to say.

Say you love me.

I love you.

If you was a broad, I'd marry you.

My boy.

I bet you would.

Who's that? Well, you know...

Look, we're going to the ladies' room.

Goodbye, you two.

Well, somebody's got to.

Bye-bye.

So, what are these plans?

What's the big goddamn secret?

You remember a guy named Clyde Bassie?

Got out of the joint a couple of years ago.

He went down to the Bahamas, Paradise Island

and he got this car rental place.

He used to talk about it all the time in the can.

He got out, he went down there, put it together.

And it's doin' good. Real good.

I mean, like, it's makin' money.

Couple of months ago he wrote me and he said.

I could buy in any time I got $75,000 together.

You're gonna rent cars.

What are you laughing at?

You're gonna rent cars.

That's right. I know a lot about cars.

I've been stealing 'em since I was 14.

Look at him laugh.

I'll tell you somethin'.

Car rental guys don't get killed that much.

And where are you gonna get the $75,000?

I don't know. Maybe some rich relative dies and leaves it to me.

It's a dream, Dave. You gotta dream, baby.

You got it all worked out, Carlito. Here's to you.

So here's me back on the street.

Third Sunday in August. Old Timer's Day in the barrio.

When did you get out, papi?

A couple of days ago.

Nothin' left.

Like them old cowboy movies, but instead of tumbleweed and cow dung,

we got stripped car wrecks and dog shit.

A lot of new faces?

These young guys, I don't recognize them.

Carlito, man, Death Valley out here, man.

You know me, I take to the street with any of these motherfuckers, man.

But these new kids nowadays, man, they got no respect for human life.

They shotgun you just to see you fly up in the air.

You're better off in jail.

I don't even go up to black Harlem no more.

They're fuckin' crazy up there. Remember Victor?

Victor with the beard.

He got shot right in front of the High.

Right in front of fuckin' Patrick Henry High.

Lalin, you know him.

Lalin Miasso. What happened to him?

Lalin's doin' 30 years in Attica, man. Thirty years!

Walberto! Check it out, esto. Mira who's here.

Hey, Wally.

Heavy-duty.

Good to see you.

Carlito, I've been looking all over for you.

Should have figured I'd find you walking around up here

doing a little "memory lane."

While I still got one.

Rolando wants to talk to you.

Carlito, I gotta get back to the game.