Director: Mike Newell
Writers: Paul Attanasio (screenplay), Joseph D. Pistone (book), Richard Woodley (book)
Stars: Al Pacino, Johnny Depp, Michael Madsen

This review is part of the feature:

The 33 Gangster Films You Can’t Refuse

Donnie Brasco opens with New York wiseguy Lefty (Pacino) meeting Don the Jeweller (Depp) in a bar. He wants him to sell a diamond on his behalf, but Donnie turns him down because the stone is a fugazi, a fake, an artificial specimen. We soon learn that Donnie is a fugazi himself. He is an undercover FBI agent acting like a potential Mafia associate.

Lefty likes him a lot and introduces him to his dangerous crew that is part of the Bonanno crime family. Now Donnie is in and he’s assigned to take down Lefty’s boss Sonny Black (Madsen) and his whole crew with him if possible. Pretty soon tension for Donnie reaches a boiling point both in the mob and in his private life with his estranged wife and children.

Donnie Brasco is based on the incredible true story of FBI agent Joseph D. Pistone told in the 1988 book ‘Donnie Brasco: My Undercover Life in the Maffia’. You must admire the balls it takes to infiltrate this gang of sociopathic murderers.

The casting agency who did this movie deserves an Oscar. The mob world it takes place in feels 100% authentic and the lead cast is sensational. It is especially enjoyable to watch Pacino, normally a boss in mob movies, play an uncertain, low level, nickel and dime foot soldier.

In the undercover cop genre, Donnie Brasco is up there with the very best, like State of Grace and The Departed. It’s an excellent movie with some very powerful scenes, such as Donnie being forced to help cut up the bodies of slain enemies.

It is also the number one guide to learn how to behave as a wiseguy. There is a whole scene explaining how to use the term fuhgeddaboudit which is both hilarious and unforgettable.

“Forget about it is, like, if you agree with someone, you know, like ‘Raquel Welch is one great piece of ass. Forget about it!’ But then, if you disagree, like ‘A Lincoln is better than a Cadillac? Forget about it!’ You know? But then, it’s also like if something’s the greatest thing in the world, like, ‘Minghia! Those peppers! Forget about it!’ But it’s also like saying ‘Go to hell!’ too. Like, you know, like ‘Hey Paulie, you got a one-inch pecker?’ and Paulie says ‘Forget about it!’ Sometimes it just means ‘Forget about it’.”