Editing Serpico (section)

===Later reviews===
[[Rotten Tomatoes]] rated it 93% "Fresh", with an average score of 8.1/10, based on reviews from 55 critics. The consensus reads: "An engrossing, immediate depiction of early '70s New York, ''Serpico'' is elevated by Al Pacino's ferocious performance."{{sfn|Rotten Tomatoes staff|2004}} On the [[review aggregator]] [[Metacritic]], the movie garnered a score of 87 out of 100, based on 7 reviews from mainstream critics. The result indicated "universal acclaim".{{sfn|Metacritic staff|2004}}

[[AllMovie]] gave ''Serpico'' five stars out of five. The review described the situation in the United States following the [[Watergate scandal]], and how the "bureaucratic depravity touched a cultural nerve". It welcomed the film's "documentary-style realism".{{sfn|Bozzola, Lucia|2012}}

''[[The A.V. Club]]'' received it positively; the reviewer felt that ''Serpico'' expressed "artful, character-driven slices of life".{{sfn|Murray, Noel|2013}}

In its later review, ''[[The Village Voice]]'' declared that the "Watergate-era time capsule of hippie fashions" that the film presented "ought to look pretty dated", but that the story "feels depressingly relevant".{{sfn|Strong, Benjamin|2004}}

A 2023 article found that "the movie, like the life of its hero, remains a clear public good". The article commented that a film about a cop facing impossible, potentially fatal, obstacles for simply doing his job on the level "feels impossible in the Hollywood of today".<ref>{{cite news | last=Tobias | first=Scott | title=Serpico at 50: a daring look at police corruption anchored by Al Pacino | newspaper=The Guardian | date=5 December 2023 | url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2023/dec/05/police-corruption-docudrama-al-pacino | access-date=5 December 2023 | archive-date=5 December 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231205192404/https://www.theguardian.com/film/2023/dec/05/police-corruption-docudrama-al-pacino | url-status=live }}</ref>