Save the book for later (SPOILERS)

Rating: 7/10 (19 March 2003)

I might have enjoyed this film more if I hadn't read and enjoyed the book by Agent Pistone. It's very well-made, Pacino's performance is outstanding, and even Madsen and Depp (not my favorite actors) are adequate.
I understand the necessity for dramatic license, and I'm not in the habit of nitpicking small details (e.g., much of the relationship between Lefty and Donnie was in fact based on Donnie's relationship with Sonny Black, and I appreciate the reasons for the change). In this case, however, the changes alter the very spirit of the story, and the original story was better. Apparently, the story of a cop heroically risking his life for what he knows is right is beyond the understanding of cynical Hollywood filmmakers; in their hands, it becomes a story of a cynical FBI agent driven by his cynical bosses into the loving arms of the mob.
And what makes it even worse is that the film actually portrays low-level mob life accurately as Pistone actually saw it. These guys are pathetic, sleazy, money-grubbing lowlifes, constantly afraid that their bosses will decide to have them "whacked," generally over a few dollars. It's possible to believe that an ordinary person with decent career prospects could be attracted to mob life as portrayed in THE GODFATHER. But this? Fugeddaboutit!
Not that they made this stuff up out of whole cloth. Pistone himself admits that he really liked Sonny Black and felt bad when he found out that he had been killed. But he never indicates that he considered taking any other action. He also admits that, although his moral attitudes and mannerisms didn't change, he did pick up a certain combativeness and unwillingness to back down from confrontation.
The end of the film would definitely have been more enjoyable if I hadn't known the real story. Lefty's death in the movie was based on the real-life end of Sonny Black. I understand the poignancy of giving Lefty the big "getting called in" scene at the end, but the real-life story is better. "Lefty Guns" Ruggiero, lowlife sleazeball that he was, never talked. He upheld his twisted code of honor, even when the feds offered to keep him out of prison (he served ten years thanks to Pistone's testimony) and protect him against his former associates. When he was dying of cancer, the money-grubbing weasel reportedly turned down $1,000,000 to promote this movie.
It's hard to be unfair to someone like Benjamin Ruggiero, but this film manages it.
If you enjoy the film (or even if you don't, but are interested in what mob life is really like), be sure to read the book to learn the true story.
7/10.