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Reviews Counted:52
Fresh:45
Rotten:7
Average Rating:7.8/10
Consensus: A stark, nuanced portrait of life in organized crime, bolstered by strong performances from Al Pacino and Johnny Depp.
Theatrical Release:00-00-0000
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... [More]
It's tempting to think Pacino stopped trying sometime in the mid-1980s. But watch Lefty's elegiac final scene and you might conclude that it's not Al's ability that's dimmed, rather it's the imagination of casting directors that's grown stale.
Top CriticA tense, sharp and compelling character study, Newell's film is a worthy addition to the Mob-movie canon.
Top CriticPacino's outstanding work elevates this to the crime movie pantheon.
Top CriticDepp's tight, guarded performance is almost painful to watch, and Newell seems to have reined in the flamboyant Pacino, whose portrait of the mobster as a grumpy old man may be his best work in years.
Although perhaps familiar in its outer trappings, Pacino's fine work is the key to the film succeeding to the extent that it does.
Top Critic[Newell and Attanasio] pay as much attention to emotional details as to the clockwork details of mob life.
Just misses ranking in the upper echelon of mob movies.
A classy piece of work that may disappoint those looking for something more conventional.
A blue collar gangster movie that succeeds on all attempted levels, particularly acting.
Donnie Brasco is a fine movie but it might just be best remembered as Johnny Depp's coming-out party. A star -- check that, an actor -- is born.
Shows that solid acting and writing can salvage even material that has been covered by much better filmmakers.
Donnie Brasco manages to sidestep the obvious and dwell on the intriguing.
In almost every respect, Donnie Brasco is an original, the unexpected rebirth of an old and oft-told tale.
Donnie Brasco is 120 minutes of riveting filmmaking.
Unfortunately, the story isn't inventive and Newell's methodical approach to it verges on monotony.
It's gritty, real and totally engrossing.
A first-class Mafia thriller that is also, in its way, a love story.
It's hard to develop any sympathy for the film's nasty manipulative humans, despite the best efforts of all involved in this newest slant on the mean-streets crowd.
The humor and tragedy that Pacino and Depp put on the screen will stay with you.
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.
August 16, 2006:
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May 09, 2005:
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