Review of Donnie Brasco (1997) by Dustin G — 23 Sep 2009

This is a great mob movie. This is still relatively early in Johnny Depp's film career, but he shows the same amount of talent and ability as he would after super stardom reached him. Speaking of acting, this is one of my favorite Al Pacino performances. No stranger to gangster roles, Pacino's Lefty character is different from his characters in Scarface and Godfather as Lefty is a very low level mobster, often left out, forgotten, passed over. Pacino display's this beautifully conveying sadness and feeling sorry for himself throughout much of the movie.

Another amazing thing in the movie is the writing. I love the screenplay. Full of every verbal mafia cliche ever, but written and delivered in a way that feels believable and authentic.

It's great to watch Brasco in his mob role, but also great to watch as his family life takes a hit as a result of his undercover work.

The movie is based on a book and takes great liberty at 'Hollywood-izing' the facts. Most notably, Pistone, in the book, claims his marriage or family life was never hurt while he was undercover, and that he never lost sight of who he was and what his mission was.

Still I'm judging this movie on it's movie merits, not on how faithful an adaptation it is. I agree with the changes the filmmakers made anyway. The movie wouldn't have worked as well if it stayed completely faithful to the book.

Anyway, the films not up there with Goodfellas, Godfather I and II, or even Casino. But it's still an excellent gangster movie, one I doubt I'll ever get sick of.