Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #60626 in DVD
• Released on: 2000-11-07
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Colour, Dolby, DVD-Video, Special Edition, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English, French
• Subtitled in: English, French, Spanish
• Dubbed in: Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .20 pounds
• Running time: 127 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Based on a memoir by former undercover cop Joe Pistone (whose daring and unprecedented infiltration of the New York Mob scene earned him a place in the federal witness protection program), Donnie Brasco is like a de-romanticised, de-mythologised version of The Godfather. It offers an uncommonly detailed, privileged glimpse inside the world of organised crime from the perspective of the little guys at the bottom of Mafia hierarchy rather than from the kingpins at the top. Donnie Brasco is not only one of the great modern-day gangster movies to put in the company of The Godfather films and GoodFellas, but it is also one of the great undercover police movies--arguably surpassing Serpico and Prince of the City in richness of character, detail and moral complexity. Donnie (Johnny Depp, a splendid actor) is practically adopted by Lefty Ruggiero (Al Pacino), a gregarious, low-level "made" man who grows to love his young protégé like a son. (Pacino really sinks into this guy's skin and polyester slacks and creates his freshest, most fully realised character since his 1970s heyday.) As Donnie acclimates himself to Lefty's world, he distances himself from his wife (a terrific Anne Heche) and family for their own protection. Almost imperceptibly his sense of identity slips away from him. Questioning his own confused loyalties, unable to trust anybody else because he himself is an imposter, Donnie loses his way in a murky and treacherous no-man's land. The film is directed by Mike Newell, who also headed up Four Weddings and a Funeral and the gritty, true crime melodrama Dance with a Stranger. --Jim Emerson

Customer Reviews

Great crime movie
Fantastic. This film has plenty of everything you might want in this area. It's great entertainment, has the tang of reality plus a good deal of violence, domestic aggro and an interesting take on mob life.

It also has Al Pacino, Johnny Depp and Michael Madsen putting in top performances, and that can't be a bad thing. Very, very good movie.

Up there with the big ones
As an American History enthusiast, and someone with a firm interest in the US Mafia history, this film gets 5*s.

With an all star cast, including the legendary Al Pacino this film gives a true story of an FBI Agent who infiltrates a New York mafia ring, but becomes a little too close.

With some very graphic scenes it is not for the squeamish!

In my opinion, this film is up there with the big names such as Goodfellas and A Bronx Tale.

A great film, that can be watched over and over again.

A must see
A great film if your into mob films or not i really would recommend this film you, you know when Al is in a film is going to be good and he does not fail in this one.