Donnie Brasco

An FBI undercover agent infilitrates the mob and finds himself identifying more with the mafia life to the expense of his regular one.

• Director:Mike Newell
• Genre:Crime / Drama / Thriller
• Runtime:127 minutes

Cast

Al Pacino : Benjamin ‘Lefty’ Ruggiero
Johnny Depp : Donnie Brasco / Joseph D. ‘Joe’ Pistone
Michael Madsen : Sonny Black
Bruno Kirby : Nicky
James Russo : Paulie

In the late 1970s, FBI agent Joe Pistone is assigned to infiltrate the New York City–based Bonanno crime family. Calling himself Donnie Brasco and posing as a diamond expert from Vero Beach, Florida, he befriends Benjamin “Lefty” Ruggiero, a low-level mob hit man whose personal life is in tatters, and Dominick “Sonny Black” Napolitano, the boss of Lefty’s crew.

Lefty can’t seem to make enough money, his son is a drug addict and he is continually passed over for promotion to a higher position within the crime family. He continually reminds Brasco of his growing disillusionment about having spent 30 years in the Mafia (and killing 26 people), with little to show for it.

In Donnie, at least, Lefty sees a young protégé who might be able to succeed where he had failed. He takes Donnie under his wing. Donnie quickly becomes accepted by the other family members, at first as “a friend of mine” (the lowest Mafia rank) and later a “friend of ours” (a connected man).

The longer Pistone plays the role of a gangster, the more he finds himself actually becoming Donnie Brasco during his rare off-duty hours. His long absences and change in personality drive a wedge between Pistone and his wife and three children. Meanwhille, the slightest mistake in his performance as a mobster could result in death to him and his family.

In addition, Pistone has come to regard Lefty as a close and trusted friend. He knows that when the day finally comes that the FBI arrests his mob associates, he will be ending Lefty’s life as surely as if he himself had killed him. Read more

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