MovieChat Forums > Carlito's Way (1993) Discussion > Where in the HELL did he think he was go...

Where in the HELL did he think he was going with $75,000?

posted 16 years ago by CountSuckula
47 replies | jump to latest

I know the film was set in the 1970s (1975 I believe) and things weren’t as expensive in those days as they are now. But how in the HELL did he expect to “build a new life” for himself and Gail AND a new baby for a measly 75K?

Or was his whole plan flawed from the beginning, and he was just kidding himself and just didn’t know any better? Was this the director’s way of illustrating some naiveté on Carlito’s part, or of the ultimately hopelessness of his plight?

I guess so because even for 1975 $75,000 doesn’t seem like very much money at all!

"Stick with me baby, and you'll be fartin' thru silk!"

[–] CountSuckula 16 years ago

Fuggetaboutit! Regardless of what the inflation-calculator says, are we to believe he was gonna "build a new life" for himself, Gail and their baby in a tropical paradise by what....renting Pintos to tourists? C'mon, gimme a break, it was naive pipedream that was doomed from the start. The only thing is poor Calito never even realized it.

"Stick with me baby, and you'll be fartin' thru silk!"

[–] Jerseykid 16 years ago

My parents bought their first home in New Jersey in 1975, 1500 sq. ft for $35,000. I am sure he could make things happen w/ 75k.

[–] bladeseed 15 years ago

What's this wise guy's problem eh? Go kill yourself money hater.

[–] 15 years ago

[deleted]

[–] KTope 15 years ago

Wow.

Number 1: $75,000 buys his share of the car rental business. He says this more than once...

Number 2: $75,000 in 1975 is like $300,000 today. If he needed to, his family could live for quite a while on that, especially in Central America.

Number 3: Even today $75,000 would allow a small family live somewhat comfortably for 2 years! No Rolls Royce; but food, clothes, and a home while steady income is located.

I am Jack's IMDb post.

[–] amd8404 10 years ago

Too bad you didn't respond earlier - thread could have been a lot shorter. It's hilarious reading these old posts from 2008 with people laughing at the idea that inflation has changed our currency's value A LOT since the 1970s.

[–] KTope 10 years ago

Good point. It's hard to believe that when I made that statement just 4 years ago about a small family being able to live in relative comfort on 37.5K/yr it was true, but I don't believe it is now. That's a Ramen lifestyle for a family of 3, even in a city like mine with lower rents and food prices than most.

[–] Degree7 11 years ago

I think we're all forgetting here that it doesn't matter how much money Carlito had or where he was going.

Fleeing to the Bahamas will not save you if the mob are after you. It would only be a matter of time before they tracked him down and killed him and maybe Gail and the baby. Might take many years, but it would happen.

Limit of the Willing Suspension of Disbelief: directly proportional to it's awesomeness.

[–] daveyh (623) 10 months ago

Going off the figures people are saying here, the 30k he pockets after that thing with his cousin and the pool table would be worth at least 100k in today's money. While not exactly enough to live off forever, it would certainly be enough to move to another city and keep him going for a few months, maybe even a year, while he figures out what to do. Instead he invests almost all of it into Saso's club because that world is all he knows (hell, Kleinfeld was willing to front his 25k investment for that anyway).
Basically instead of using that "found money" to go straight and get away from the old life and the old temptations, he buys into a club owned/run by someone who's at least connected to the street in Saso, frequented by gangsters and invested into by his mob lawyer and associates. It was always going to drag him back in, especially since he seemed to be spending almost every night there.

[–] UMAD (655) 9 months ago

it was mentioned many times in the movie. the bahamas.

[–] RoboReCop (3294) 9 months ago

The film is an allegory to "Charllet's Web", fyi.