"Carlito's Way" wrapped on July 20, 1993, and was released on November 3, 1993. Critical response to the theatrical release was somewhat lukewarm. The film was criticized for re-treading old ground, mainly De Palma's own "Scarface" and "The Untouchables". Roger Ebert stated in his review that the film is one of De Palma's finest with some of the best set-pieces he has done. Patrick Doyle was praised on his scoring of the film soundtrack, which was described as "elegiac" and "hauntingly beautiful," which "displays Doyle as one of the major talents of modern film scoring." Peter Travers (of "Rolling Stone") criticized the film for Pacino's "Rican" accent slipping into his "Southern drawl from "Scent of a Woman"", "De Palma's erratic pacing and derivative shootouts" and "what might have been if "Carlito's Way" had forged new ground and not gone down smokin' in the shadow of "Scarface"."