Donnie Brasco | 1997 | UK Quad

Donnie Brasco is a 1997 crime drama directed by Mike Newell and produced by Mark Johnson, Barry Levinson, Louis DiGiaimo, Gail Mutrux. The screenplay was written by Paul Attanasio and is based on the 1988 nonfiction book called Donnie Brasco: My Undercover Life in the Mafia by Joseph D. Pistone. It stars Al Pacino, Johnny Depp, Michael Madsen, Bruno Kirby, James Russo and Anne Heche.

The storyline is loosely based on the true story of Joseph D. Pistone (played by Johnny Depp), an FBI undercover agent who infiltrated the Bonanno crime family in New York City during the 1970s, using the alias Donnie Brasco. Donnie maneuvers his way into the confidence of an aging Mafia hitman, Lefty Ruggiero (played by Al Pacino), who vouches for him. As Donnie moves deeper into the Mafia criminal underworld, he realises that not only is he crossing the line between being a federal agent and a criminal, but also leading his friend Lefty to an almost certain death.

When Donnie Brasco was released it received positive reviews from the critics and audiences alike. On Rotten Tomatoes it currently holds a rating of 88% with the general consensus being, “A stark, nuanced portrait of life in organized crime, bolstered by strong performances from Al Pacino and Johnny Depp”. Roger Ebert praised the film and awarded it three and a half stars out of four. Janet Maslin of The New York Times called it “a sharp, clever encounter, overturning all manner of genre cliches and viewer expectations… and the best crime movie in a long while, is full of similar surprises as it leads Mr. Pacino and Johnny Depp through a fine-tuned tale of deception”.

Commerically, Donnie Brasco was a huge financial hit for TriStar Pictures. Having been released on 28th February 1997 and made with an esitmated production budget of $35 million it took $11.6 million in it opening weekend at the US box office. It went on to take $41.9 million in the US and $83 million from worldwide audiences, making for a total of $124.9 million. Donnie Brasco was also nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay at the 70th Academy Awards losing out to L.A. Confidential.

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