Gritty and upsetting

Rating: 2/10 (27 January 2019)

For many years after I watched Donnie Brasco, I longed for the type of technology that could extract the film from my brain. Fortunately, years have passed since, and unfortunately, other more disturbing movies have taken its place in my mind as movies I wish I'd never seen. If you're a sensitive person who gets seriously upset by gritty, upsetting true crime stories, don't watch Donnie Brasco, no matter how famous you think it is.
As a young film student, I was pressured into watching this movie by my male peers. This is a very masculine film, with no redeeming qualities for female viewers. It's the true story of an undercover FBI agent, played by Johnny Depp, who gets so immersed in his assignment that he loses touch of who he really is. His assignment is to join the mafia and get close to head mafioso Al Pacino, and while it's understandable that Al is magnetic and alluring, the audience is constantly aware that this is a true story. The killings and the choices and the danger are real, unlike many "gangster pictures" that glorify street violence. To me, that made all the difference in the world. One might say that the film, and all the people involved, must have been excellent for me to have such a negative reaction. Frankly, I don't care. There was no purpose in this "exposé" for me; I can't wage a one-woman campaign against mob violence, nor do I have the opportunity to stop anyone in my environment from joining such a crowd. It was merely upsetting, and I wish I'd never watched it.
Kiddy Warning: Obviously, you have control over your own children. However, due to violence, I wouldn't let my kids watch it.