Donnie Brasco (Wide Screen) > Reviews > What a damn fine film

Author's product rating:   

Did you enjoy it?	Loved it
Story	Good
Characters / Performances	Outstanding
Special Effects	Outstanding
How does it compare to similar films?	Outstanding

Advantages:	A damn good film
Disadvantages:	None

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

I saw this movie on telly the other night and thought to myself, ‘I must write an opinion for this one.’

So here goes, the plot is dead simple and here it is in a nutshell, cos you all know me and plots! Right Johnny Depp plays FBI man, Joe Pistone, who goes under cover, with a view to infiltrating the New York Mafia, with the pseudonym Donnie Brasco! He does this mainly by befriending Lefty Ruggiero, played by the man himself, Al Pacino.
The relationship that builds between Depp and Pacino is excellent, the two becoming very firm friends, and Depp begins to worry for Lefty’s safety, especially when the time comes for him to pull out and blow the whistle. That is basically what the movie is about! Although as usual there is more to it than that, but that’s all you need to know before you watch the film. (Anyway I’m sure you’ll all tell me if I’ve been too mingy with the details.)

So here goes with the other stuff, Johnny Depp, who I’d always considered a pretty boy who can act a bit, has shut me right up with the last two films of his that I’ve seen, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and this one. I now have to concede that he is indeed a fine actor, very much in the Brad Pitt vein. (He was responsible for the consumption of another huge slice of humble pie after I saw him in Meet Joe Black and Fight Club, the git!) Al Pacino, is as ever faultless, and it makes me wonder why it is that some people have most certainly got it, like Pacino, Hopkins, De Niro et al, and others couldn’t act with a gun to their heads!

Anyway, Mike Newell, who brought us the very funny Four Weddings and a Funeral, directs Donnie Brasco very competently. No corners are cut and the violence, when it comes is brutal and often very graphic, so be warned.

On a final note this movie is a true story, which is pretty mind blowing when you see what Depp’s character has to go through, and the information he gathered all the time he was there, usually by way of a wire (Not advisable) helped to get something like 200 convictions!

So Depp and Pacino are brilliant, the film is ultimately very watchable, so if you haven’t seen it yet and true stories that have lots of violence are your bag, then get this film soon, you won’t be disappointed.

Donnie Brasco – A very good film.

Wemstalker.