Brian DePalma needs a hit *really* badly. Since scoring big with THE UNTOUCHABLES in 1987, DePalma has seen CASUALTIES OF WAR, RAISING CAIN and particularly the disastrous BONFIRE OF THE VANITIES go down in flames. Consequently, it would be easy enough to consider CARLITO'S WAY a shrewd commercial choice for DePalma, reteaming with Al Pacino (SCARFACE) and returning to the gangland ground which has yielded his two greatest box office successes. It doesn't hurt any that he has latched on to a solid story and brought out dynamite performances from Pacino and Sean Penn. CARLITO'S WAY, while hampered by DePalma's characteristic excesses and stylistic cannibalism, is a truly tense and engrossing drama.