Review of Donnie Brasco (1997) by David H — 22 May 2016
Great real-life mafia film. Lots of great performances and a compelling story, and largely rewatchable, in my experience. Unfortunately, like Pacino's character Lefty, it is relegated to second banana against greater films like Goodfellas because, also like Lefty, it does its job but doesn't go all the way.
That's not to say it's a bad film; a real-life story with a phony ending would have been worse. However, the real-life reality is that Joseph Pistone's case was pulled before a dramatic real-life tragedy could have occurred, preventing an ending that would have been more cinematically dramatic.
Not a flawed film by any means (except maybe the soundtrack), and definitely worth watching for any fans of the organized crime/cop genre.
This review of Donnie Brasco (1997) was written by David H on 22 May 2016.
Donnie Brasco has generally received positive reviews.
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