[A] powerful Mafia genre film with impressive star leads and emotional punch.
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.
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 CriticClick to read the article
01/01/00
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
For all its treacheries, twists and turns, nothing really comes as a surprise.
01/01/00
Top CriticRemains a bore for much of its running time.
01/01/00
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.
02/14/01
Top CriticIt's a good story and an interesting take on trust and friendship, but Donnie Brasco only works for the first hour.
01/01/00
Pacino's performance is great and the story seems to have an interesting take on human nature, but the bland, mechanical direction make it not quite worthy of a full recommendation.
01/01/00
Unfortunately, the story isn't inventive and Newell's methodical approach to it verges on monotony.
08/14/02
Top Critic[Pacino's] turn as a low-level mobster is his most relaxed and charming work in years.
01/01/00
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.
06/20/09
A tense, sharp and compelling character study, Newell's film is a worthy addition to the Mob-movie canon.
01/26/06
A consistently absorbing and intelligent adult entertainment.
01/01/00
A pleasant surprise.
01/01/00
Just misses ranking in the upper echelon of mob movies.
05/09/07
One fine little character study about crime, friendship and loyalty in gangland New York City.
01/01/00
Shows that solid acting and writing can salvage even material that has been covered by much better filmmakers.
08/26/03
Depp is convincing as the role-playing agent who loses track of his real identity.
02/26/02
May be the best mob movie in years that was made by somebody whose name is not Scorsese or Coppola.
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
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