Saturday 24 March 2012

Donnie Brasco

Donnie Brasco

Donnie Brasco is a crime drama film that was released in 1997 and was directed by Mike Newell. Johnny Depp, Al Pacino and Michael Madsen star in this true story of an FBI undercover agent. The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.

The Plot

The story follows an FBI undercover agent that becomes Donnie Brasco, played by Johnny Depp, who goes undercover in order to infiltrate a mob family. Donnie manages to become friends with an aging hit-man, Lefty Ruggiero (Pacino), who helps get Donnie into the mob. Donnie gets deeper and deeper into the Mafia world and finds himself identifying more with the people he is attempting to expose than his regular life.

The plot is fantastic. Although the film is not completely accurate to the actual events, it is very close with only a few alterations. The story is gripping and is aided by fantastic performances and a brilliant script.

The Performances

This film provides one of Al Pacino's greatest performances. Pacino as Lefty is a flawless performance and it is criminally overlooked for an Oscar nomination. Johnny Depp is also fantastic in this film and the supporting cast are all great in the various roles.


Overall

Overall this is a really great film. The story is gripping and is supported by a fantastic script, with equally good performances from some top stars. The real tragedy of this movie is that it seems to be overlooked and has crept under the radar of the mainstream slightly. A truly great movie.

Rating - 8/10

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