电影开篇交待结尾的做法当然为人津津乐道，布赖恩在剧情的展开中也不断营造无可改变的强烈宿命感。“重大义轻小利、重友谊轻生死”的旧式正道早被后生者弃置不顾。正如David对Carlito所说的那样：“Fuck you and your self-righteous code of the goddamn streets. Did it pull you out of a 30 year stint in only 5 years? No, it didn't, I did. Did it get you acquitted 4 fucking times? No, it didn't, I did, so fuck you, fuck the streets, your whole goddamn world is this big, and there's only one rule, you save your own ass.”然而Carlito作为旧式传统的遵守者和维系者却未改变，一如他对Gail所说：“It's who I am Gail, it's what I am. Right or wrong, I can't change that.”所以观者知晓Carlito终于会像他出狱后在酒吧中与David Kleinfeld说的那样“Favor gonna kill you faster than a bullet.”但是导演的狡猾就在于他兑现了他所营造出的你完全知晓的结局，只不过事情来得更突然些，更教人唏嘘感慨些。当英雄因为他所坚持的正义而死，被渲染的死亡即是所谓暴力美学经典场面；当然英雄为亚正义而死，暴力美学足以渲染得更惨烈些；然而当英雄非是死于此，而是死于“非常突然”，那么一切就变得不那么美好，那个注定的悲剧的美感也在观者的惊愕之余显得愈发沉重，“人在江湖，身不由己”的无力感也即更为强烈：“你逃脱了一切，却逃不出命运”
黑帮片经典
