Surprisingly incoherent and boring

Masterful Movie

Boring

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

Great story and even better cast. Really strong movie. "The Godfather" of the nineties.8,5/10

Donnie Brasco is a mob movie based on the true story of FBI Special Agent Joe Pistone, played by Johnny Depp, and the New York mafia group he infiltrated in the late 1970's. This isn't your typical gangster film. Donnie Brasco has a softer touch and the emotional undercurrent that is sparse in its predecessors is what makes this movie one of the best 90's dramas. Joe Pistone poses as Donnie Brasco, an orphan jeweller that's been taken under the wing of Benjamin 'lefty' Ruggiero, a down on his luck street hustler with "26 hits under my belt" who has become disillusioned with the mafia institution he's given his life too. This is a raw look at the gritty working class life of a mob crew that scrap and fight for every cent they can muster. There's very little glitz and glamour within this mob and the daily hustle of making a buck wears thin on the gang and even more so on Donnie and his over the hill mentor Lefty. As impressive as Johnny Depp is, this is Al Pacino's film, the master bringing a lifetime of experience and wisdom to his role. Director Mike Newell's mafia entry is very respectable, he manages to hold his own against the likes of Coppola, Scorsese and De Palma as directors who have mastered this genre before him. Donnie Brasco gives the audience a glimpse of blue collar crime within the mob that's rarely been seen in a movie before or since.

'Donnie Brasco' makes a worthwhile contribution to the Mob genre. While it may not sit on the pantheon alongside 'The Godfather' and 'Goodfellas', it bridges a frequently overlooked dichotomy of lawmen and lawbreakers, dividing the viewer's loyalties. (This theme was built upon a decade later in 'American Gangster', although the line between good and evil was drawn more starkly in Ridley Scott's film.) Al Pacino delivers a refreshingly reserved performance as 'Lefty', an ageing gangster living in a pitiful way. The story of how he takes Johnny Depp's 'Donnie Brasco' (the pseudonym of an undercover FBI agent) under his wing, willingly jeopardising his own position, unfolds very enjoyably. We soon find (I did, at least) that the intricacies of Mob life are of secondary interest; even the precarious life of 'Donnie', our protagonist, takes a backseat to the plight of 'Lefty'. However, Depp's character is not uninteresting, simply less sympathetic. The man better known for portraying pirates and fantasy eccentrics plays the lead role with unlikely ease, and the transformation of 'Donnie' from a law-keeping man of integrity to a confidant of killers is paced very finely. Mike Newell's biographical crime film is considerably more contemplative than most other titles in the genre, and my 8/10 rating comes easily.

This slightly different mafia film has several familiar faces, including Al Pacino, Johnny Depp, Michael Madsen, Bruno Kirby, and Anne Heche, with Pacino giving the best performance as the down-on-his-luck mobster Lefty Ruggiero, who is responsible for introducing Agent Joe Pistone(Depp)into the mob. The best moments were the interactions between the 2 great actors, Pacino and Depp, as they were both very believable in their roles. I thought they both followed the factual book by author Pistone rather well. On the other hand, I felt that Sonny Black's character(Madsen)could've been developed a bit more than just a secondary character; in the book, he's just as important as Lefty, maybe more than that. Without spoiling too much, the ending of the book is very different than the film's convenient ending, in regards to Lefty and Sonny's fate. I got slightly bored when Pistone had arguments with his wife Maggie, played by Heche, as it slowed the film down. Other than those aspects I just mentioned, I still find this a very solid mafia film, but not a great one.