Donnie Brasco (Special Edition)
by Mike Newell
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Al Pacino, Bruno Kirby, James Russo, Johnny Depp, Michael MadsenDirector: Mike Newell
Brand: Sony
Producer: Alan Greenspan
Producer: Barry Levinson
Producer: Gail Mutrux
Producer: Gary Khammer
Writer: Joseph D. Pistone
Writer: Paul Attanasio
Writer: Richard Woodley
DVD: Region Code 99
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo; French (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0; Spanish (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 2.0
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: Anamorphic Widescreen, 2.35:1
Running Time: 127 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2000-11-07
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Model: 5272
Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Product features:
- TESTED
Movie Reviews of Donnie Brasco (Special Edition)
Movie Review: A complete triumph in every respect...
Summary: 5 Stars
Color me surprised, but this movie was downright fantastic. I really expected something so much less than what I received. Instead, what I found was a deeply moving, completely engrossing, totally organic and convincing portrait of the grit that is the life of crime AND the life of those who try and prevent it. With comparisons to `The Godfather' and `GoodFellas', `Donnie Brasco' is the type of film that really had to deliver in order to make any sort of impact.
Personally, `Donnie Brasco' blows `GoodFellas' out of the water.
Based on the real life memoirs of Joe Pistone, `Donnie Brasco' centers around the world of Joe (or Donnie), an ambitious undercover cop who infiltrates the New York mob scene when he gets placed under the wing of Benjamin `Lefty' Ruggiero, a `made man' who takes a liking (almost paternal) to Donnie. As Donnie gets deeper and deeper into this world of which he is trying to expose, he finds his personal life slipping away from him. Soon, his family is torn in two as his wife begins to resent him for his involvement and before he knows it, he has become the very thing he has sworn to destroy.
I have made it pretty clear that I personally feel Al Pacino has wasted his talent pretty much as soon as the 70's ended. He is one of those actors who was SO good and then suddenly became nothing more than a cliché. He is nearly irrelevant today. That said, his performance in `Donnie Brasco' is a work of genius. I just cannot believe that this is AL PACINO. He really reaches back to his glory days and delivers an outstanding portrayal of a man intent of surviving yet never so much that he loses touch of what makes him human. Watching Lefty interact with the ruthless people around him brings an odd fascination. Lefty seems almost like an outcast. He is strong and certainly authentic, but he feels almost too warm at times, which adds to his character's remarkable development (such a superbly crafted sympathetic character that never grates on clichéd manipulative sentiments).
I've also made it pretty clear that I consider Johnny Depp an overrated actor. So many consider him the `it' guy today. It is very cool to like Johnny Depp, but personally he hasn't delivered a strong performance for me in many years. I was hesitant to watch this film because I am not a fan of either Pacino or Depp, but I must say that this may be Depp's finest performance to date (I adore him in `Benny and Joon', but the depth he brings to Donnie is completely remarkable). There is a loneliness that Depp captures, perfectly depicting the descention his character is making into that dark hole that is his profession.
Like I said, color me surprised.
With outstanding supporting performances by Anne Heche and Michael Madsen, not to mention a memorable turn from Bruno Kirby (so underrated in his day as a supporting player), `Donnie Brasco' is an acting triumph. Not just that, it is marvelously scripted to completely engage the audience. The film has so much grit and realism. You can really see both sides of this world, and the film makes no attempts to glamorize of paint this `life' as something jovial. Mike Newell's direction is stellar, completely capturing the emotional as well as the visual impact of the subject.
I don't think enough words can be said in complete praise and admiration of this film. It is simply outstanding in all respects.
Summary of Donnie Brasco (Special Edition)
DVDBased on a memoir by former undercover cop Joe Pistone (whose daring and unprecedented infiltration of the New York Mob scene earned him a place in the federal witness protection program), Donnie Brasco is like a de-romanticized, de-mythologized version of The Godfather. It offers an uncommonly detailed, privileged glimpse inside the world of organized crime from the perspective of the little guys at the bottom of Mafia hierarchy rather than from the kingpins at the top. Donnie Brasco is not only one of the great modern-day gangster movies to put in the company of The Godfather films and GoodFellas, but it is also one of the great undercover police movies--arguably surpassing Serpico and Prince of the City in richness of character, detail, and moral complexity. Donnie (Johnny Depp, a splendid actor) is practically adopted by Lefty Ruggiero (Al Pacino), a gregarious, low-level "made" man who grows to love his young protégé like a son. (Pacino really sinks into this guy's skin and polyester slacks, and creates his freshest, most fully realized character since his 1970s heyday.) As Donnie acclimates himself to Lefty's world, he distances himself from his wife (a terrific Anne Heche) and family for their own protection. Almost imperceptibly his sense of identity slips away from him. Questioning his own confused loyalties, unable to trust anybody else because he himself is an imposter, Donnie loses his way in a murky and treacherous no-man's land. The film is directed by Mike Newell, who also headed up Four Weddings and a Funeral and the gritty, true crime melodrama Dance with a Stranger. --Jim Emerson
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