Review of Donnie Brasco (1997) by Deb S — 07 Feb 2010

In the late 1970's, FBI agent Joe Pistone goes undercover posing as jewel expert Donnie Brasco to win the trust of ageing mob middleman Lefty Ruggiero. As time passes Donnie gets tighter and tighter into the mob. Al Pacino plays a mobster, but he's not as psychotic as usual, and for once, you get to see the inner struggles of a crook who deep down has a heart of gold (despite all of the murders). Pacino is perfect as Lefty, an aging criminal who wants out of the mob lifestyle, but doesn't know how to do it. Donnie comes as a gift from heaven and it does not take long before Lefty trusts Donnie completely. The problem for FBI-agent Donnie is that he's starting to like Lefty as well. As the months go by, Donnie's marriage begins to fall apart as he is away from his wife (Anne Heche) pretty much all the time. The line between his real life and his undercover life blurs together and he finds himself dangerously close to being seduced by the violent Mob lifestyle. Depp is excellent and so is Michael Madsen as Sonny Black.

Overall, the fact that this is a true story makes it more interesting but, while I was watching it I wasn't really thinking about it and was just enjoying the gangster film itself. However, I just don't think any mob movie could beat Goodfellas, Casino, or The Godfather.