Synopsis
An FBI undercover agent infiltrates the mob and identifies more with the mafia life at the expense of his regular one.
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Cast
- Johnny DeppDonnie Brasco / Joseph D. 'Joe' Pistone
- Al PacinoBenjamin 'Lefty' Ruggiero
- Michael MadsenDominick 'Sonny Black' Napolitano
- Bruno KirbyNicholas 'Nicky' Santora
- James RussoPaulie
- Anne HecheMaggie Pistone
- Zeljko IvanekTim Curley
- Brian TarantinaBruno
- Rocco SistoRichard 'Richie' Gazzo
- Zach GrenierDr. Berger
Recommendations
- 100
L.A. Weekly
There are moments here that are so distinct in emotional timber it's as if they were directed by someone who'd skipped the last two decades of American genre film and opted to get back to basics -- like character, and the ways in which two actors can sit in a smoke-filled car and turn an everyday conversation into art. - 100
San Francisco Chronicle
The true soul of the New York mob is portrayed in Donnie Brasco, a first-class Mafia thriller that is also in its way a love story -- perhaps director Mike Newell's best. - 100
Slate
It's hard to think of another American film with this range of moods: satirical, sometimes hilarious, yet suffused with a sense of loss and riddled with the kind of violence that makes you recoil and lean forward simultaneously. - 75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
What better casting than Al Pacino, whose own career, of course, has reflected all the seasonal changes in the gangster saga. Pacino takes the part and runs with it so boldly that he ends up in Arthur Miller land. - 75
Christian Science Monitor
This sort of story has been told many times before, but thoughtful performances by Al Pacino and Johnny Depp make it more engrossing than expected. - 70
Chicago Reader
Depp conveys his character's ambivalence and ambiguity with utter conviction, and though the annoying score tries to throw Pacino's monologues over the top, his persuasive, low-key performance puts the violins in their place. - 70
Variety
The psychological dimensions of the story remain underrealized, but the loaded central premise and intimate focus the film sustains combine for a very involving and dramatic piece of crime lore. - 60
Dallas Observer
Because the filmmakers have skewed the story into a Donnie-Lefty lovefest, the breakage of their trust signals the breakage of Donnie's spirit even in triumph. Case closed. It's the kind of fade-out we might expect from the it's-all-hopeless era of '60s counterculture movies. It's emotionally effective, but also a cheat.
