Watch Donnie Brasco For Free

best movie i've ever seen.

Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Donnie Brasco kicked off the Donnie series in 1997, with Donnie Darko following four years later. One morbid scene was the much-discussed Japanese restaurant where Donnie and his cronies beat up the maitre'd because he insisted Donnie remove his shoes. I wonder what the casting call was for this, an actor of Asian appearance, preferably nerdy and flabby looking, willing to take a few blows for verisimilitude. I mean really, thankfully Donnie and his cronies didn't take their anger to a McDonald's lest Ronald be beaten up in the presence of Mayor McCheese and the rest of the McDonald's gang. Really, can you imagine if this incident had taken place in a German beerhouse? I don't think so...I imagine the beefy ultra-nationalists in the beerhouse wouldn't take any crap from Brasco et al.

FBI Agent Joe Pistone goes undercover in a section of the New York City mob. Using the name Donnie Brasco, he befriends mafioso Benjamin 'Lefty' Ruggiero. As time goes by, Pistone begins to identify with, and care for his mafia friends, especially Lefty. Pistone is married and has children, but he is away for weeks or months at a time, eventually leading to the break up of his marriage. When he stops reporting to the FBI, his superiors decide the time has come to pull the plug on the operation......Back when this was first released, I thought this was one of the most interesting, well acted crime thrillers I'd ever seen. It was unlike Depp to star in something that appeared to be so mainstream, and the thought of Pacino playing an empathetic protagonist seemed like the perfect idea.Seeing it with fresh eyes nearly twenty years later, it's clear that Newell wanted to make his Goodfellas, and Pacino was his ticket to success.It has the music, it has the great cast, and it has the unpredictable violence. But what it doesn't have, is the passion that Scorcese put into that masterpiece, and the biggest problem with the film is Pacino.He isn't terrible, it's just that he appears to be doing nothing more than parody, and if he says 'forget about it' once, he must say it literally 70-80 times. And that's just him.There is one scene where Depp is discussing with, of all people Paul Giamatti, and Tim Blake-Nelson the different ways of saying 'forget about it' and what it connotes to, and it's a wonder that they keep straight faces throughout.Thank goodness for Madsen, who is clearly the best thing in the film, and again, this is lazy casting. But thank heavens this was the time in his career when he actually put in a good performance, and whenever he's on screen, the film comes alive.Pistone is portrayed as a selfish individual, yes he gets in too deep, but there's no reason to act like a child every time you interact with the real world.So all in all, it's not terrible, it's just nowhere near as good as it thinks it is, hence why you never really see it quoted like the film it's trying to be.It's been forgot about.

This slightly different mafia film has several familiar faces, including Al Pacino, Johnny Depp, Michael Madsen, Bruno Kirby, and Anne Heche, with Pacino giving the best performance as the down-on-his-luck mobster Lefty Ruggiero, who is responsible for introducing Agent Joe Pistone(Depp)into the mob. The best moments were the interactions between the 2 great actors, Pacino and Depp, as they were both very believable in their roles. I thought they both followed the factual book by author Pistone rather well. On the other hand, I felt that Sonny Black's character(Madsen)could've been developed a bit more than just a secondary character; in the book, he's just as important as Lefty, maybe more than that. Without spoiling too much, the ending of the book is very different than the film's convenient ending, in regards to Lefty and Sonny's fate. I got slightly bored when Pistone had arguments with his wife Maggie, played by Heche, as it slowed the film down. Other than those aspects I just mentioned, I still find this a very solid mafia film, but not a great one.

With its violence, action sequences and struggles for power between different factions of the Mafia, "Donnie Brasco" superficially appears to be a typical gangster movie. In reality, however, it's a tense, dramatic and moving account of a powerful friendship that develops between two men who, in normal circumstances, would regard each other as dangerous enemies. The fact that there's a deception at the heart of their relationship means that it will inevitably end in betrayal and the knowledge of this, causes one of the men to become painfully conflicted.As it's based on the true story of an undercover FBI agent who infiltrated the New York City mob in the late-1970s, this movie is predictably gritty, realistic and fascinating to watch. It's also particularly well-written with a strong focus on its characters and brilliantly captures the look and atmosphere of the period in which it's set.When jewel fence Donnie Brasco (Johnny Depp) is approached by aging Mafioso, Benjamin "Lefty" Ruggiero (Al Pacino), he tells the older man that the diamond he's interested in selling is a "fugazi" and readily goes with him to see the man who sold him the fake. At the meeting, Donnie beats up the dealer and relieves him of his Porsche to compensate Lefty for his financial loss. Suitably impressed, Lefty starts to teach Donnie about all aspects of life in the Mafia and advises him on how to dress, talk and keep his money in a roll if he wants to eventually become a "made guy".Hit-man Lefty, who introduces Donnie to a series of other mobsters, resents the fact that he still hasn't been "upped" despite giving 30 years of loyal service to the mob during which he'd personally "clipped" 26 guys. What he doesn't realise is that Donnie is actually undercover FBI agent Joe Pistone who's systematically collecting evidence against the mob at the same time as he's rising through the ranks of the criminal organisation. Joe's total immersion in his gangster identity causes him a great deal of internal torment as he finds himself developing the characteristics of the men he's trying to bring to justice and growing further apart from his wife, his three daughters and his employers.Joe then experiences more pressure when his FBI bosses want him to tie up his work with that of another agent who's operating in Miami, Florida. Luckily, when Joe tells his criminal counterparts that there are good business opportunities in Florida which the mob could usefully capitalise on, his observation is well accepted and plans follow for him and Lefty to run a nightclub in the area. Things go badly wrong after the club is raided by the police on its opening night and a shootout involving a number of gangsters follows. The closer Joe gets to the end of his mission, the more troubled he becomes about what'll happen to his mentor when his cover is eventually blown, because Mafia rules dictate that Lefty, as Joe's sponsor, would have to pay for his error of judgement with his life.There's a powerful tension that runs through this movie that's fuelled by the constant danger that Pistone's in, his estrangement from his family and the anxiety and guilt that he feels about the inevitable consequences of his betrayal of Lefty. There's also a deep sense of sadness, as he knows there's nothing he can do to change the unstoppable direction of travel in which events are moving.The quality of the story in this movie is matched by some top class acting with Pacino and Depp excelling in their roles. Johnny Depp's character presents a particular challenge because most of the time he's practising a deception which means that he needs to keep his natural body language under control. The subtle way in which Depp conveys what he needs to, within these constraints, is really impressive and contrasts strongly with some of his outbursts (e.g. in the Japanese restaurant) when he seemingly responds to a particular situation more spontaneously.Al Pacino is sensational as a man who's been repeatedly passed over for advancement within the mob and lives with cancer, a drug-addicted son and a good deal of fear. The solace he finds in his friendship with Donnie is profound and his ability to pass on his knowledge to his protégé is rewarding and a counter-balance to the many disappointments in his life."Donnie Brasco" ends appropriately on a rather poignant note, as it illustrates how both its main characters are grossly under-appreciated and poorly rewarded by their respective bosses.