Good, off-beat, mob-themed buddy-film

Rating: 8/10 (5 February 2020)

FBI agent Joseph D. Pistone (Johnny Depp) infiltrates the New York mob by posing as a jewel thief named Donny Brasco and befriending low-level wise-guy Benjamin "Lefty" Ruggiero (Al Pacino). Depp is very good portraying the agent as the lines between cop and mobster begin to blur as he gets drawn deeper and deeper into the violent criminal underworld. Pacino is also very good as a discontented, aging mobster who feels sidelined, and much of the film is about the awkward friendship that develops between the two men despite Lefty's suspicions and Brasco's knowledge that Lefty will likely be 'whacked' for unwittingly facilitating the FBI operation. The film is amusing at times, especially the scenes where an exasperated Lefty explains mob etiquette and proper wise-guy behaviour to the neophyte 'good fellow'. The rest of the cast is good and, refreshingly, the film depicts mob life as somewhat less glamorous than other similarly themed films. Like most Hollywood 'biopics', some artistic license was taken and the film is far from a 'history lesson' (notably, the hit on Sonny Red was nothing like the scene in the film). Good, entertaining gangster film with a somewhat different feel from the ubiquitous Scorsese films.