Forget about it........

Rating: 5/10 (14 September 2016)

FBI Agent Joe Pistone goes undercover in a section of the New York City mob.
Using the name Donnie Brasco, he befriends mafioso Benjamin 'Lefty' Ruggiero. As time goes by, Pistone begins to identify with, and care for his mafia friends, especially Lefty.
Pistone is married and has children, but he is away for weeks or months at a time, eventually leading to the break up of his marriage.
When he stops reporting to the FBI, his superiors decide the time has come to pull the plug on the operation......
Back when this was first released, I thought this was one of the most interesting, well acted crime thrillers I'd ever seen. It was unlike Depp to star in something that appeared to be so mainstream, and the thought of Pacino playing an empathetic protagonist seemed like the perfect idea.
Seeing it with fresh eyes nearly twenty years later, it's clear that Newell wanted to make his Goodfellas, and Pacino was his ticket to success.
It has the music, it has the great cast, and it has the unpredictable violence. But what it doesn't have, is the passion that Scorcese put into that masterpiece, and the biggest problem with the film is Pacino.
He isn't terrible, it's just that he appears to be doing nothing more than parody, and if he says 'forget about it' once, he must say it literally 70-80 times. And that's just him.
There is one scene where Depp is discussing with, of all people Paul Giamatti, and Tim Blake-Nelson the different ways of saying 'forget about it' and what it connotes to, and it's a wonder that they keep straight faces throughout.
Thank goodness for Madsen, who is clearly the best thing in the film, and again, this is lazy casting. But thank heavens this was the time in his career when he actually put in a good performance, and whenever he's on screen, the film comes alive.
Pistone is portrayed as a selfish individual, yes he gets in too deep, but there's no reason to act like a child every time you interact with the real world.
So all in all, it's not terrible, it's just nowhere near as good as it thinks it is, hence why you never really see it quoted like the film it's trying to be.
It's been forgot about.