Serpico

Adapted by Waldo Salt and Norman Wexler from Peter Maas's book, Sidney Lumet's Serpico portrays the real-life struggle of an honest New York City cop who wages war against a corrupt system. Officer Frank Serpico (Pacino) keeps one foot firmly planted in the counterculture, sporting a beard and love beads and living in bohemian Greenwich Village. But when he refuses to take bribes like his fellow officers, he becomes determined to expose the corruption within his department. Serpico's information triggers an independent investigation by the Knapp Commission, but also make him a marked man.