Editing Carlito's Way (section)

==Plot==
In 1975 [[New York City]], after having served five years of a thirty-year prison sentence, career criminal Carlito Brigante is freed on a legal technicality that has been exploited by his close friend and lawyer Dave Kleinfeld. Carlito vows to end his unlawful activities but is persuaded to accompany his young cousin Guajiro to a drug deal at an illegal [[speakeasy]]. Guajiro's suppliers betray and kill him, forcing Carlito to shoot his way out. Carlito takes Guajiro's $30,000 from the botched deal and uses it to buy a stake in a [[nightclub]] that is owned by a gambling addict named Saso, intending to save $75,000 to retire to the [[Caribbean]].

Carlito declines several offers for a business partnership with a hot-headed young gangster from [[the Bronx]] named Benny Blanco. Carlito also rekindles his romance with his former girlfriend Gail, a ballet dancer who moonlights as a stripper. Dave develops a love interest with Benny's girlfriend Steffie, a waitress at the club. Benny's frustration with Carlito's rejections comes to a head, and he confronts Carlito at his table. Carlito publicly humiliates Benny, who reacts by manhandling Steffie. Fueled by his now-extensive use of [[Alcoholic beverage|alcohol]] and [[cocaine]], Dave brazenly pulls out a gun and threatens to kill Benny, but Carlito intervenes. Despite being personally threatened by Benny, Carlito lets him go unharmed, a decision that alienates him from his friend and bodyguard Pachanga.

Dave, who stole $1 million in a payoff from his client, [[American Mafia|Mafia]] boss Anthony "Tony T" Taglialucci, is coerced into providing his [[yacht]] to help Taglialucci break out of the [[Vernon C. Bain Correctional Center|Rikers Island prison barge]]. Dave begs for Carlito's assistance in the prison break, and Carlito reluctantly agrees. That night, Carlito, Dave and Taglialucci's son Frankie sail to a floating [[buoy]] outside of the barge where Taglialucci is waiting. As they pull Taglialucci aboard, Dave kills him and Frankie, then dumps their bodies in the [[East River]], claiming that they would have killed him anyway. Knowing that mob retaliation is imminent, Carlito immediately severs his ties with Dave and decides to leave town with Gail. The next day, Dave is hospitalized after a mob hitman stabs him several times.

The police apprehend Carlito and take him to the office of District Attorney Norwalk, where he learns that Dave has already agreed to [[perjury|perjure]] himself should Carlito be tried again. Despite being threatened with charges of being an accomplice to the Taglialucci murders, Carlito refuses to betray Dave. In the hospital, Carlito visits Dave, who confesses to selling him out. Having noticed a suspicious man dressed in a police uniform waiting in the lobby, Carlito secretly unloads Dave's revolver and leaves. The man is Taglialucci's other son Vinnie seeking vengeance for his brother and father. After sending away the officer who is guarding Dave, Vinnie enters Dave's room and shoots him dead.

Carlito buys train tickets to [[Miami]] for himself and Gail, now pregnant with their child. When he visits his club to get the stashed money, he is met by a [[East Harlem Purple Gang|group of East Harlem Italian gangsters]] led by Vinnie. The Italians plan to kill Carlito, but he manages to slip out through a secret exit. The Italians pursue him through the city's subway system and into [[Grand Central Terminal]], where they engage in a gunfight.

Carlito kills all of his pursuers except Vinnie, who the police shoot and kill. As Carlito runs to catch the train where Gail and Pachanga are waiting for him, Benny ambushes him and fatally shoots him several times with a [[suppressor|silenced gun]]. Pachanga admits to Carlito that he is now working for Benny, but the latter shoots him as well. Carlito hands a tearful Gail the money and tells her to escape with their unborn child and start a new life. As he dies, Carlito stares at a billboard with a Caribbean beach and a picture of a woman. The billboard comes to life in his mind, and the woman, now Gail, starts dancing.