A very unique story with two brilliant performances.

Rating: 8/10 (8 January 2008)

Very entertaining with some of the finest performances of the 90s. Johnny Depp and Al Pacino are such a dangerously grand combination and they are both so dynamic throughout. They both completely amazed me, notably Depp who I didn't expect such a strong, emotional performance from. He usually goes for charisma in his work, which I love, but he really displayed such emotional strength in this. The story itself is phenomenal. The most brutally honest portrayal of the life of a gangster ever created. I definitely wasn't expecting a scene like Johnny Depp cutting a guy's foot off more realistically and years before Saw become such a crave for it's brutality. Anne Heche was also surprisingly great in the best "semi-abandoned wife of an undercover cop who is trying to care for her kids while desperately missing her husband" role that appears in every film dealing with an undercover cop. She brought real authenticity and sympathy to the role, which I've never seen before.
I also thought that the film took a very interesting look into what happens when an undercover becomes too attached to one of the men he's trying to commit. The best scene of the film comes when Joe is in the garage talking to his wife and he is painfully describing that he can't reveal himself as a rat because if he does Lefty, who he has come to love as a father figure, will die for it. He's stuck in such a bind because if he doesn't reveal himself, and stays undercover, he will drive his family away until he loses them. But, if he reveals himself, he is putting the gun in Lefty's mouth and pulling the trigger. It's one of the best acted scenes I've ever witnessed, and Depp makes his emotional pain so palpable in the best acted scene of his career. I really loved this film.