Pacino's outstanding work elevates this to the crime movie pantheon.
Comment
01/01/00
Donnie Brasco (1997)
87
%
Tomatometer
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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]
Reviews for Donnie Brasco
Top CriticIt'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.
06/20/09
Top CriticA tense, sharp and compelling character study, Newell's film is a worthy addition to the Mob-movie canon.
01/26/06
Top CriticShows that solid acting and writing can salvage even material that has been covered by much better filmmakers.
08/26/03
Donnie Brasco manages to sidestep the obvious and dwell on the intriguing.
05/14/03
Remains a bore for much of its running time.
01/01/00
Takes us into a world that the movies frequently open to us, but somehow this trip seems more real and less glamorized than most.
01/01/00
A standard-issue mobster movie that rises above the mire of its shopworn genre by showing the cracks in its characters' armor.
01/01/00
It's a good story and an interesting take on trust and friendship, but Donnie Brasco only works for the first hour.
01/01/00
Depp is convincing as the role-playing agent who loses track of his real identity.
02/26/02
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.
06/05/02
A blue collar gangster movie that succeeds on all attempted levels, particularly acting.
04/09/05
A classy piece of work that may disappoint those looking for something more conventional.
09/17/05
The movie has many human qualities and contains what will be remembered as one of Pacino's finest scenes.
01/01/00
Top CriticMay be the best mob movie in years that was made by somebody whose name is not Scorsese or Coppola.
01/01/00
[Newell and Attanasio] pay as much attention to emotional details as to the clockwork details of mob life.
07/30/07
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.
04/12/02
One of the most moving and insightful gangster films ever made.
03/05/02
It's gritty, real and totally engrossing.
08/14/02
One fine little character study about crime, friendship and loyalty in gangland New York City.
01/01/00
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