RottenTomatoes.com
Log In | Register | What is RT?
Check out the new RT Community
  • Home
  • Movies
  • DVD
  • Celebrities
  • News
  • Critics
  • Trailers & Pictures
  • CommunityBeta
  • Box Office
  • | In Theaters
  • | Opening
  • | Upcoming
  • | Best Of
  • | Certified Fresh
RT Search Powered by Google
help icon Enhanced RT
searches on Google
Click here to turn on enhanced search results from RT on your Google searches.
 
Movies / Upcoming / Donnie Brasco
Donnie Brasco

Rate this Movie Help Icon

  • Write a Review
  • Read Reviews
  • Add to List
  • Buy Poster External Icon
Bookmark and Share

Donnie Brasco (1997)

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
87 %
Tomatometer
Template ImageTemplate Image

How does the Tomatometer work Help Icon

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.

Runtime: 2 hrs 27 mins

Genre: Dramas

US Box Office: $0

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]

Reviews for Donnie Brasco

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
 
 
21 - 40 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

One of the most moving and insightful gangster films ever made.

Full Review Source: MovieMartyr.com | comment Comment
03/05/02
Jeremy Heilman
Jeremy Heilman
MovieMartyr.com

Depp is convincing as the role-playing agent who loses track of his real identity.

Full Review Source: Spirituality and Practice | comment Comment
02/26/02
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Spirituality and Practice

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

Powerful, driving, incisive and fascinating, Donnie Brasco paints a convincing portrait of a man's life undercover.

Full Review Source: Q Network Film Desk | comment Comment
02/27/01
James Kendrick
James Kendrick
Q Network Film Desk

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
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

I don't know if I can emphasize enough how much I enjoyed the fine performances of Depp and Pacino.

Full Review Source: Laramie Movie Scope | comment Comment
01/01/01
Robert Roten
Robert Roten
Laramie Movie Scope
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Boston Phoenix | comment Comment
01/01/00
Boston Phoenix

[Pacino's] turn as a low-level mobster is his most relaxed and charming work in years.

Full Review Source: E! Online | comment Comment
01/01/00
E! Online

A consistently absorbing and intelligent adult entertainment.

Full Review Source: Salon.com | comment Comment
01/01/00
Charles Taylor
Charles Taylor
Salon.com

A pleasant surprise.

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
01/01/00
Christopher Null
Christopher Null
Filmcritic.com

One fine little character study about crime, friendship and loyalty in gangland New York City.

Full Review Source: Apollo Guide | comment Comment
01/01/00
Dan Jardine
Dan Jardine
Apollo Guide

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
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

May be the best mob movie in years that was made by somebody whose name is not Scorsese or Coppola.

Full Review Source: Rochester Democrat and Chronicle | comment Comment
01/01/00
Jack Garner
Jack Garner
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

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

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
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

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

The performances are terrific, especially Pacino. But when has he not been? But here he's even better than usual, even showing a vulnerable side that is almost heartbreaking.

Full Review Source: Deseret News, Salt Lake City | comment Comment
01/01/00
Jeff Vice
Jeff Vice
Deseret News, Salt Lake City

Remains a bore for much of its running time.

Full Review Source: Sacramento Bee | comment Comment
01/01/00
Joe Baltake
Joe Baltake
Sacramento Bee

This underrated Mafia film ranks at the top when it comes to emotional intensity, character development, and revealing the inside nature of the Mob.

Full Review Source: Old School Reviews | comment Comment
01/01/00
John A. Nesbit
John A. Nesbit
Old School Reviews

Pacino's outstanding work elevates this to the crime movie pantheon.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
01/01/00
Kim Newman
Kim Newman
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
 
 
21 - 40 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 >> >|
all

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...

See All

More Movies

Coming Soon in Australia
Tomatometer Percentage Movie Date

88% 88% Up in the Air 14/1
— The Tooth Fairy 14/1
— Bran Nue Dae 14/1

What’s Hot On RT

Inception Trailer

Inception Trailer

See the new trailer for Chris Nolan's latest

2010's Biggest Films

2010's Biggest Films

We preview all the new year's major releases

Best of the Decade!

Best of the Decade!

Find out what movies made our lists...

20 Must-See Films

20 Must-See Films

Our guide to the biggest and best films

Other News

  • Top Stories
  • Popular
  • Interviews
 
 

Comments

 
 
Top Stories
Headlines Comments
  
  • Weekly Ketchup: Annual Ketchup Edition
74
  • Harold Ramis Discusses Filmography, Teases Ghostbusters 3 Source: Heeb Magazine
16
  • National Film Registry Adds 2009 Selections Source: Hollywood Reporter
9
  • New Moon Tops Moviefone's 2009 List Source: Hollywood Reporter
30
  • Star Trek Tops 2009's Most-Pirated Movies List Source: Hollywood Reporter
19
  • Weekly Ketchup: Peter Jackson's Secret Sci-Fi Project
111
  • New Toy Story 3 Clip, Photos Posted Source: Slashfilm
26
  • Danny Trejo Talks Machete, Possible Sequels Source: Collider.com
14
  • It's Official: Jackass 3-D Coming in 2010 Source: Collider.com
16
  • Bryan Singer Returning to X-Men for First Class Source: Superhero Hype
102
Popular
Headlines Comments
  
  • Critics Choose Must-Sees and Worsts of 2009
264
  • Box Office Guru Wrapup: Avatar Continues Its Run In 2010
146
  • RT's Ten Most Popular Movies of 2009
98
  • Total Recall: New Year's Eve Movies
44
  • Weekly Ketchup: Annual Ketchup Edition
37
  • Five Favorites of the Five Favorite Films of 2009
34
  • Rotten Tomatoes Is Joining Forces With Flixster!
33
  • Friday Harvest: Eclipse, Robin Hood, and more!
31
  • Awards Tour: The Hurt Locker Wins Big At National Society of Film Critics Awards
26
  • Critics Consensus: The White Ribbon Is Certified Fresh
24
Interviews
Headlines Comments
  
  • Five Favorite Films With Peter Jackson
74
  • Robert Downey Jr. talks Sherlock Holmes & Iron Man 2 - RT Interview
22
  • Director Ruben Fleischer Talks Zombieland
2
  • "I Don't Hate Women": Lars von Trier on Antichrist
17
  • Eric Bana talks Love the Beast - RT Interview
12
  • Fight Club Sound Designer Reflects on Film's 10th Anniversary
24
  • James Schamus talks Taking Woodstock - RT Interview
8
  • RT on DVD: Wassup, Bruno
3
  • Scott Hicks Talks The Boys Are Back
0
  • John Hurt Talks Harry Potter, Quentin Crisp and Alien - The RT Interview
16
 
 

Sponsored Links

Around The Network

  • Donnie Brasco at Rotten Tomatoes
  • Donnie Brasco at IGN

Fresh Links

Featured
40 Best Films of the 2000s
40 Best Films of the 2000s External Link

Last week, Moviefone offered us their worst films of the 2000s. Now see their 40 best!

Competitions
Win Funny People on DVD
Win Funny People on DVD External Link

We're giving away copies of Judd Apatow's latest.

 
 
About| Site Map| Help| RT To Go| Contact Us| Critics Submission| Linking to RT| Licensing| Movie List| Celebs List| Newsletter
IGN Logo
About Us | Advertise | Contact Us | Press | Careers
IGN | GameSpy | Comrade | Arena | FilePlanet | Direct2Drive | GameSpy Technology
TeamXbox | Game Sites | VE3D | CheatsCodesGuides | GameStats | GamerMetrics
AskMen.com | Rotten Tomatoes | GIGA.DE | What They Play | Battlefield Heroes
By continuing past this page, and by your continued use of this site, you agree to be bound by and abide by the User Agreement.
Copyright 1998-2010, IGN Entertainment, Inc. | Support | Privacy Policy | User Agreement | Subscribe to RT's XML feed! RSS Feeds
IGN’s enterprise databases running Oracle, SQL and MySQL are professionally monitored and managed by Pythian Remote DBA.
Certain product data ©1995-present Muze, Inc. For personal use only. All rights reserved.