Fogettaboutit!!

Rating: 8/10 (13 January 2004)

Donnie Brasco is a film based on a true story about Special Agent Joseph Pistone (Depp) who infiltrates the Brooklyn mob element to clean up the streets. He must decide whether to put these people that he's become friends with in jail, or go down the same road they have and get trapped into a life of crime and violence. His mentor in this world, Lefty (Pacino), is an aging hitman and is really the only person he can trustand even though it's Brasco's job to take down people like Lefty, he becomes a true and valuable friend. Brasco must decide whether to take down this new found world as his job requires and betray those who trust him and those he's learned to respect, or succumb to the mob and betray his job.
It was a nice change to see Pacino play a character that I felt sympathetic towards, as his usual tough-guy roles leave little room for that. He plays a passed-up aging hitman with dreams of leaving the life of crime behind and never looking back. Both Depp and Pacino perform with respectable style as usual and the chemistry between them seems to work, even if it's not the duo you'd expect to see on screen together. Michael Madsen was also a joy to watch as the quick-tempered Sonny Black. He doesn't get many quality roles, so it was nice to see him here and he fit the role perfectly.

Very Minor Spoilers:
My main reason for enjoying this film though would have to be for Pacino's character, Lefty. You just feel bad for the guy. He's been working for the mob for 30 years, just waiting to get the respect he deserves, but somehow has always been cheated out of. After making friends with him and gaining respect of the mob family, even Donnie and Sonny B. get offered opportunities that Lefty was more deserving of. It's easy to see why Lefty felt the way he did and wanted to leave that life, and start over. It simply wasn't worth it anymore.
Typically, I don't enjoy undercover style mob movies, but there are exceptions, and this is one of them. For example, Goodfellas was an awesome movie, up until the end. Even though it was based in a true story as well, it ticked me off when Henry Hill ratted out all of his lifetime friends and family to save his own hide and took a little enjoyment out of it for me. But with this movie, I felt it ended perfectly. My only qualm about the movie is how much they use the phrase `fogettaboutit'. It's already a cliché, so why feed the fire? Other than that, I really enjoyed this movie and the performance therein. Overall 8/10.