Stereotyped

Rating: 7/10 (14 July 2001)

There are some things every gangster film must have. Someone called Pauli, Michael Madsen playing exactly the same character he always does, lots of people wandering around saying "Forget About It" [hey, this even made an art form of this] and Al Pacino being, well, Al Pacino.
Pacino is excellent. Johnny Depp isn't bad either. It's based on a true story, but the portrayal of the characters is a bit stereotyped to say the least. The usually excellent Anne Heche is pretty poor as Depp's wife, and there were a few sloppy parts of the plot.
The FBI had an operation called "Operation Donnie Brasco". Now, I just don't believe that for a second. That operation name would have got out, with mob connections in the FBI, and he'd have been killed. They're just not stupid enough to do things like that.
All that aside, it's as good as most other films of this genre since Goodfellas. Worth a look.