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Movies / On DVD / Donnie Brasco
Donnie Brasco

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Donnie Brasco (1997)

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Reviews Counted:15

Fresh:11

Rotten:4

Average Rating:7/10

Consensus: A stark, nuanced portrait of life in organized crime, bolstered by strong performances from Al Pacino and Johnny Depp.

Runtime: 2 hrs 27 mins

Genre: Dramas

Synopsis: Joe Pistone (Johnny Depp) is an FBI mole who integrates himself into the Mafia pecking order by posing as "jewel man" Donnie Brasco. He finds his loyalties divided when Lefty Ruggiero, a jaded hit... Joe Pistone (Johnny Depp) is an FBI mole who integrates himself into the Mafia pecking order by posing as "jewel man" Donnie Brasco. He finds his loyalties divided when Lefty Ruggiero, a jaded hit man, takes him on as a protégé and places real trust in him. The two men form a friendship--and a criminal partnership--that jeopardizes Brasco's mission and obscures the boundaries between the law and the underworld. The film is based on the autobiography DONNIE BRASCO, MY UNDERCOVER LIFE IN THE MAFIA by former undercover agent Joseph D. Pistone. Directed by Mike Newell (FOUR WEDDINGS AND A FUNERAL) and also starring Bruno Kirby (THE FRESHMAN, THIS IS SPINAL TAP), Michael Madsen (RESERVOIR DOGS) and Anne Heche (WAG THE DOG). [More]

Starring: Al Pacino, Johnny Depp, Michael Madsen, Anne Heche

Starring: Al Pacino, Johnny Depp, Michael Madsen, Anne Heche, Bruno Kirby, Zach Grenier

Director: Mike Newell

Director: Mike Newell
Screenwriter: Paul Attanasio
Story: Joseph Pistone, Richard Woodley
Producer: Mark Johnson, Barry Levinson, Louis Di Giaima, Gail Mutrux, Patrick McCormick, Alan Greespan

[See More Credits]

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Release:

Jan 20, 1998

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Reviews for Donnie Brasco

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1 - 14 (sorted by date)
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Although perhaps familiar in its outer trappings, Pacino's fine work is the key to the film succeeding to the extent that it does.

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
11/20/08
Todd McCarthy
Todd McCarthy
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Unfortunately, the story isn't inventive and Newell's methodical approach to it verges on monotony.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment 1 Comment
08/14/02
Rita Kempley
Rita Kempley
Washington Post
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A first-class Mafia thriller that is also, in its way, a love story.

Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle | comment Comment
06/18/02
Mick LaSalle
Mick LaSalle
San Francisco Chronicle
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

In the tired figure of Lefty, manifest in the craggy icon of Pacino, our sympathies are definitely enlisted, and the theme rings a poignant note.

Full Review Source: Globe and Mail | comment Comment
04/12/02
Rick Groen
Rick Groen
Globe and Mail
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Pacino and Depp are a match made in acting heaven, riffing off each other with astonishing subtlety and wit.

Full Review Source: Rolling Stone | comment Comment
05/11/01
Peter Travers
Peter Travers
Rolling Stone
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Though the outline of what the film has tried to do is visible, so little feels at stake emotionally that anyone intending to care about these characters would be well advised, for want of a better phrase, to simply fhuggedaboudit.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | comment Comment
02/14/01
Kenneth Turan
Kenneth Turan
Los Angeles Times
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A consistently absorbing and intelligent adult entertainment.

Full Review Source: Salon.com | comment Comment
01/01/00
Charles Taylor
Charles Taylor
Salon.com
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For all its treacheries, twists and turns, nothing really comes as a surprise.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
01/01/00
Desson Thomson
Desson Thomson
Washington Post
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Takes us into a world that the movies frequently open to us, but somehow this trip seems more real and less glamorized than most.

Full Review Source: ReelViews | comment Comment
01/01/00
James Berardinelli
James Berardinelli
ReelViews
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An affirmation that the director, Mike Newell, has a gift for talkative, intelligent films that make his actors shine.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
01/01/00
Janet Maslin
Janet Maslin
New York Times
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Depp is as good as I've seen him, and Pacino is simply astonishing.

Full Review Source: Houston Chronicle | comment Comment
01/01/00
Jeff Millar
Jeff Millar
Houston Chronicle
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The movie has many human qualities and contains what will be remembered as one of Pacino's finest scenes.

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
01/01/00
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
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You get something far richer, if more unsettling, here than conventional crime drama's romanticism and easy analogies.

Full Review Source: Detroit News | comment Comment
01/01/00
Susan Stark
Susan Stark
Detroit News
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Pacino cans the showboating bluster and gives a gently nuanced portrait of a simple man in decline.

comment Comment
01/01/00
Susan Wloszczyna
Susan Wloszczyna
USA Today
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Latest News for Donnie Brasco

August 16, 2006: Character Actor Bruno Kirby, Dead at 57
You'd immediately recognize the face (and the voice) from movies like "City Slickers," "Good Morning Vietnam," and "When Harry Met Sally," but you... More...

February 17, 2006: Newell & Bardem Come Down with "Cholera"
International acting stud Javier Bardem and well-rounded movie director Mike Newell are about to bring the Pulitzer Prize-winning "Love in the Time of Cholera" to the... More...

May 09, 2005: Trailer Bulletin: "Harry Potter Part 4" Teaser
Those who love and admire the Harry Potter books and films, which is pretty much all of us (to one degree or another), will want to head over to Apple Quicktime's Movie Trailer... More...

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