Donnie Brasco may not have the epic qualities of Coppola's Godfather series, nor the dynamic construction of Scorcese's Goodfellas, but this under-rated Mafia film ranks at the top when it comes to emotional intensity, character development, and revealing the inside nature of the Mob. Much of the film's authenticity comes from the fact that it's based on the true story of FBI undercover agent Joe Pistone, who infiltrated the New York Mafia, nearly becoming a "made guy."
Pistone served as a technical director to the film and remains friends with Johnny Depp, who brilliantly portrays him in one of his strongest performances. Adding to the authenticity of the scenes is director Mike Newell, who immersed himself in some fascinating method acting by gaining enough access to a few Brooklyn "wise guys" to hang around them in restaurants to learn how they socialize.
Waiting around for superiors takes up a lot of a soldier's time, especially when he doesn't rank very high. This describes the station of Lefty Ruggiero (Al Pacino) who, though he has loyally performed 26 hits as a foot soldier, can only look at the highest ranking "wise guys" with a combination of admiration, awe, and respect. It's the early 1980s, and Lefty realizes he's near the end of his life and will never achieve his dream of sailing the world on his own private yacht as a powerful mafioso. Instead, he's the butt of their jokes; one time he is convinced that he'd been "called for" (execution) only to be presented a most unusual gift.
In Lefty's younger days, he would never have allowed Donnie Brasco (Depp) to enter his life as a substitute son to compensate for his own junkie kid. Lefty is lonely now, though, receives little respect from his Mafia family, and has "cancer of the prick."
From the opening credits, we also sense Brasco's loneliness. The close-ups of his eyes indicate a keenly observant character; posing as a jewelry expert who posts himself on the fringes of the Brooklyn Mafia, Brasco gains entry into the underworld through Lefty.
Little does Lefty suspect that he has just injected himself with a virus that will doom him more surely than his cancer—Brasco is really FBI undercover agent Joe Pistone. Not the sharpest tack in the box, Lefty unwittingly provides touches of comedy, with his awful taste in clothing and blundering ways of checking Brasco's background. (Watch his bull-n-a-china-shop search for wires in Brasco's dashboard)
Lefty vouches for Donnie, who thereby gets to know the main players. He records them through wiring in his boots, making it rather awkward for him to remove his shoes in a Japanese restaurant. As Donnie gets closer to the Mob leadership, unexpected emotional conflicts occur; the strain with his wife and kids is expected, but his growing sense of loyalty to Lefty and disdain for the FBI provide an unexpected but interesting twist.
The two factors that make Donnie Brasco work especially well are the acting and the screenwriting. When I first saw this film, I was convinced that I had witnessed Oscar-worthy performances by Al Pacino and Johnny Depp. Had the film been released in December instead of March, the two leads could have duked it out at the Academy Awards.
Fortunately, we have both Pacino's and Depp's performances preserved here. Pacino is a master of mobster acting, portraying the definitive powerful family head in The Godfather series, but here he portrays the lowly footsoldier who has lost a step or two. Pacino deliberately dresses down and shuffles along to create his "loser" persona, but it's the subtle character nuances that are most convincing! Just watch his eyes when the Mob's head man enters the scene—his sense of awe is tempered by the realization that his lowly status doesn't even allow him contact with the man.
Johnny Depp has long been one of my favorite actors, but this is one of his first successful forays into more mainstream cinema. He portrays Brasco flawlessly; like much of his work, this is extremely subtle, as he communicates primarily with his eyes (since his facial gestures have to remain largely impassive to keep up his cover). I especially like the scene in which Donnie realizes he's torn between his loyalties to his family, his job, and his growing friendship with Lefty. Watch Depp's eyes communicate this in the hospital scene, as Lefty's son is pumped for drugs—and Lefty looks to Donnie as his substitute son.
The rest of the cast is very strong as well. Anne Heche doesn't appear in many scenes, but she adds to the tension with emotional and heartfelt scenes of family turmoil. Also effective are Bruno Kirby (as a likeable mobster who tries to get a little extra drug money on the side) and Michael Madson (as the lowlife Brooklyn "wise guy" who rises through the ranks, despite his poor taste in shirts).
These actors may look even better in Donnie Brasco because of the especially strong script. The narrative proceeds smoothly in a traditional, easy-to-follow manner, and reveals our characters in an expertly layered fashion. Early in the film, we see Depp's character living alone in a bare apartment, but calling a mystery woman late night, asking her to put her phone down to let him hear her breathe. Who is this woman, we wonder?
Besides providing an expertly crafted framework for the story, Paul Antanasio's adaptation of Joe Pistone's account educates us about many Mafia lifestyle details that we haven't seen before in the Godfather series or in Goodfellas. We sense even more in this film than the others the hierarchy of the Mob and that no one trusts anyone; your paison is the person mostly likely to execute you. We learn some subtleties of the language—like the immense difference between, "Donnie is my friend" and "Donnie is a friend of ours."
We can learn textbook material about the Black Hand by reading, but to learn the real story would require living the life. In lieu of that rather drastic career choice, we can vicariously experience the lifestyle through this intimately researched script. For instance, here are a couple of common questions that the film answers:
1. Why do Mafia guys hug each other so much?
They are very suspicious and don't even trust each other very much. It's a way of checking for wires.
2. What does "fuggetaboutit" mean?
Depp's character explains this term classically. Depending on the context, it means total agreement, disagreement, or literally to just "forget about it."
Of course, no script can be perfect. A meticulous anal-retentive may one day find a flaw somewhere in Citizen Kane, so I'm justified in a couple of quibbles with Donnie Brasco's script. One rests with what I consider an over-the-top pounding of the predator reference. The metaphor fits Donnie's character as he stalks his prey (Lefty), but do we have to be hammered by that metaphor, with Lefty fixated on a Wild Kingdom episode of a lion chasing down its meal? The other case involves the lazy writing involved in using an old Calvin Coolidge joke with Donnie's daughters when he bets them that he can get them to say three words to him. The "You lose" response is so well known that it could appear in elementary school history anthologies.
Best known for Four Weddings and a Funeral, British director Mike Newell has put together a fine Mafia film that gets overlooked too often in the wake of the Scorcese and Coppola films. Newell has done his research and translated a fine script with an exceptional cast. Although the plot sounds familiar, with its basic traditional hunter-vs.-hunted structure theme, Donnie Brasco transcends the bare bones of its structure and comes to life as a dynamic bonding story between two diametrically opposed men. That's where the magic occurs, thanks to the work of Pacino and Depp.
The new special edition DVD has some added features that make it worthwhile: scenes deleted from the theatrical release, director�s commentary, and two featurettes about the making of Donnie Brasco. One featurette has Joe Pistone's face blocked out (the Mafia still has a contract out on him), but the other shows Pistone without the cover (the Mob already knows what he looks like). The director's commentary lets you know just how special are the small acting touches supplied by Pacino and Depp, and you'll learn many interesting details. One puzzle was cleared up for me: The term "fugazzi" was made up by the writers; that's why you won't find it in the dictionary. Don't ask a wise guy what it means either—unless he's seen Donnie Brasco. |
