Review of Donnie Brasco (1997) by Connor B — 17 Sep 2012

Johnny Depp makes quite a habit of picking interesting roles, movies and characters where the majority of the attention would be focused on his performance but Donnie Brasco is one of the rare movies where Depp is not the key man, yes he is very good as the titular Donnie Brasco but it is Al Pacino's performance as the guiding 'Lefty Ruggerio' that steals the show. Telling the tale of an undercover FBI agent named Joe Pistone AKA Donnie Brasco Depp and Pacino complement each other superbly throughout the film and the two are obviously the key to the highly successful Donnie Brasco.

Joe Pistone is an FBI agent who is trying to infiltrate the mafia under the alias of Donnie Brasco. When Donnie meets and befriends Lefty Ruggerio he has an in to the mafia much to the delight of the FBI but to the dismay of his family who he has to constantly ignore in order to keep them safe in case he is found out. As Donne learns the mannerisms and ways of the mafia from Lefty he begins to speak and act like him which does not go unnoticed by his wife who wants him to pull out as she feels he is getting in to deep but by this stage Donnie has now developed an almost father-son relationship with Lefty and he knows if he leaves the mafia that Lefty will almost certainly be killed for bringing Donnie into the 'family' in the first place.

Donnie Brasco is as good as any mafia/gangster film there is and this is due largely to the relationship of it's leading men Depp and Pacino who are simply fantastic in their respective roles. Brasco is an action packed, gritty drama but there are also elements of humor involved in the film with Pacino having some of the best lines but it also seems to be a maturing movie for Johnny Depp and is undoubtedly one his finest performances but all in all the film belongs to the ever present Al Pacino.