Rating: NR
Genre:
Crime
Release Date: 05/08/2007
SubTitles: English/French
Dubbed: English
Sound: DD5.1
Run Time: 147 Minutes
Flags: Violence, Questionable for Children, Profanity
Distributor/Studio: Sony Pictures
This
drama about an undercover cop who learns the hidden dangers of working his way inside the mob was based on a true story.
Joe Pistone (
Johnny Depp) is an FBI agent who is given an assignment to infiltrate the Mafia; calling himself
Donnie Brasco, he befriends
Lefty Ruggiero (
Al Pacino), a low-level mob hit man whose personal life is in tatters.
Lefty's marriage is falling apart, his son is a junkie, and his health is failing, which only adds to his growing disillusionment about having spent 30 years with the Mafia (and killing 26 people) with little to show for it. But in Donnie,
Lefty sees someone who can succeed where he failed; he takes the young man under his wing, and under
Lefty's tutelage Donnie quickly rises through the ranks of organized crime; however, the longer he plays the role of the gangster, the more
Joe Pistone finds himself becoming
Donnie Brasco in his increasingly rare off hours; it drives a wedge between himself and his wife (
Anne Heche) and children, and
Joe realizes that a break in character among the hoodlums he's come to know could mean a death sentence for himself and his family. Just as importantly,
Joe has come to regard
Lefty as a close and trusted friend, and
Joe realizes that when the day comes where he has to turn in his Mob associates, he'll be ending
Lefty's life as surely as if he put a slug in his head himself. The supporting cast includes
Michael Madsen as
Sonny,
Lefty's boss, and
Bruno Kirby as
Nicky, one of
Sonny's henchmen. The real-life
Joe Pistone today lives under an assumed name with a 500,000-dollar contract on his life still in effect.
~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
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