Donnie Brasco
 |
Our DVD Price: £13.99
RRP: £15.99 Save £2.00 (12%)
Availability
In Stock - should be despatched within 24 hours.
This product will be dispatched from Guernsey.
Delivery times
Earn 65 Bonus Points when you buy this product. More info
|
Film Description
A great Mafia film which intelligently focuses on the relationship between a small time hood and an undercover police officer.
Film Information
DVD Extras
The Making Of\Trailer
Technical Details
| Certificate |
18 |
|
Length |
120 mins
|
|
Label |
EV |
| Cat No |
EDV9018 |
|
Format |
DVD |
|
Colour |
| Region | 2 |
|
Aspect |
Widescreen |
| Subtitles |
English.
|
1 Still
View Stills
Share your thoughts and opinions - write a review
Review by Dan Macklin
on 7th April 2004
"The Best Gangster Movie Since The Godfather" screams the sales pitch on the cover, and for once the hype is justified.
Based on a true story, Johnny Depp is FBI special agent Joe Pistone, who assumes the identity of Donnie Brasco and befriends 'Lefty' Ruggiero (Pacino) as a means of infilitrating the New York mafia. At first the relationship between the two is little more than a kind of mutual ambivalence, but as time passes they grow closer and a friendship develops. Donnie's distress at seeing what ambition still burns within the ageing Lefty being constantly dashed - particularly when the younger, more outwardly-intimidating Sonny Black (Michael Madsen) is 'promoted' ahead of him - is palpable.
Donnie's liking for Lefty grows in spite of the fact that he sees Lefty carry out some hideous acts of violence, and eventually begins to participate in the thuggery himself. Despite initially being visibly and understandably repulsed by the machinations of the clan around him, as he gets drawn ever further into the circle, the lines between normality - his job, his wife and family - and the violent world of his new associates become increasingly blurred. When the mob finally suspect a 'mole' within their ranks, Donnie's instincts tell him to walk away, yet he balks at doing so in the knowledge that by so doing his friend will take the rap as the one who introduced him in the first place.
What really makes this film work is the tremendous chemistry between the two leads. One instantly warms to the suave, charming Donnie, yet as his work / life begins to veer out of control he becomes a gradually less likeable character. Paradoxically, one cannot help but feel a kind of sorrow - as Donnie unquestionably does - for the increasingly desperate, almost doomed Lefty. Pacino, of course, is an old hand at this kind of thing and plays it with customary presence, but Depp is the real star, proving his versatility as an actor in a role a million miles from, say, Edward Scissorhands or Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas.
Ultimately, this is a tense and engrossing - if a touch confused - tale of morality that grips the viewer from the off and never lets go.
View more reviews by Dan Macklin
Browse all Film Reviews
Recommendations from fellow customers
 Amores Perros
by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
 Goodfellas
by Martin Scorsese
 Fahrenheit 9/11
by Michael Moore
 Seven Samurai
by Akira Kurosawa
 Fellinis 8 1/2
by Federico Fellini
More films directed by Mike Newell
The Man in the Iron Mask (Newell, 1977) The Awakening Dance with a Stranger Four Weddings And A Funeral Mona Lisa Smile
View more >
More films starring Johnny Depp
Edward Scissorhands by Tim Burton Ed Wood by Tim Burton Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas by Terry Gilliam Sleepy Hollow by Tim Burton The Ninth Gate by Roman Polanski
View more >
More films starring Al Pacino
Heat by Michael Mann Looking For Richard by Al Pacino Dog Day Afternoon by Sidney Lumet City Hall by Harold Becker Carlitos Way by Brian De Palma
View more >
More films starring Michael Madsen
Kill Bill (Vol. 2) by Quentin Tarantino Kill Bill - Vol. 1 / Kill Bill - Vol. 2 by Quentin Tarantino 44 Minutes by Yves Simoneau The Last Drop by Colin Teague Boarding Gate by Olivier Assayas
View more >
|
