REVIEW: Donnie Brasco (1997)

Director: Mike Newell | Genre: Crime / Drama | Runtime: 127 min.

This true story focuses on the efforts of Joe Pistole (Johnny Depp), an FBI agent who has to go deep undercover within the mafia families of New York under the name of Donnie Brasco - however, after building an intense friendship with Lefty Ruggiero (Al Pacino), a recognised member within the mafia, Brasco quickly runs into problems as he doesn't want Ruggiero to take the wrap once the case is over.

Whilst there's a lot of violence and blood in Donnie Brasco, much like many gangster movies, the most interesting and entertaining scenes are those where we see the friendship progress between Brasco and Ruggiero, which is constantly challenged through other mafia associates but more importantly Brasco's wife Maggie (Anne Heche), who finds it increasingly difficult to maintain a relationship with Brasco whilst he's undercover, leading to often difficult arguments and events. 

It's interesting to see Ruggiero slowly reveal himself as a generally low member of the mafia although he acts as if he's near the top when first meeting Brasco. This could be seen as a man who's willing to finally admit he's not willing to put in the work to a business he thought admired him through this delusional world he made for himself, instead a part of him wants to leave the crime underworld behind and perhaps live a "normal" life. 

And Brasco sees this throughout the movie and tries to discreetly find ways of getting Ruggiero out of the mafia and into normal society so to speak. Instead things regularly go wrong, whether it's suspicion from the boss Sonny (Michael Madsen) who hints that Brasco is a rat or various confrontations between Ruggiero and other mafia associates.

Whilst at first glance, this movie might seem like yet another gangster flick based on true events, which of course it is, it's the relationships between various characters that truly stands out - a true example of how emotions and judgement can rapidly change based on the level of friendship between one another.

8/10