Donnie Brasco

1997 Directed by Mike Newell

Based on a true story.

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

Johnny Depp Al Pacino Michael Madsen Bruno Kirby James Russo Anne Heche Zeljko Ivanek Brian Tarantina Rocco Sisto Zach Grenier Gerry Becker Robert Miano Paul Giamatti Gretchen Mol Tim Blake Nelson Walt MacPherson Ronnie Farer Terry Serpico Tony Lip George Angelica Val Avery Madison Arnold Delanie Fitzpatrick Katie Sagona Sara Gold Larry Romano James McCauley James Bulleit Andrew Parks Show All…

Alternative Titles

Донни Браско, 惊天爆绝地危机, Дони Браско

crime thriller drama

147 mins More details at IMDb TMDb Report this film

Popular reviews

Review by Ryan Daniel ★★★★½

“Donnie, you know, sometimes I think in that orphanage they dropped you on your fuckin’ head.”
One of my new favorite scenes in movie history is Tim Blake Nelson, Paul Giamatti and Johnny Depp sitting in a circle talking about the many meanings of ‘fuhgettaboutit’.
Review by Hollie Horror ★★½ 2

I didn't plan on watching this today but when I woke up my mom was in the kitchen watching it, yelling at Johnny Depp because "he's a freakin' snitch," and I got sucked in despite it being edited for television with about 3 hours of commercials for diets and poop medicine.
Review by David Jenkins ★★★★

Based on a true story of an undercover FBI agent tasked with taking down a mob family from the inside. The subject matter and themes to be found in 'Donnie Brasco' are clearly not particularly original. It is also probably fair to say that this type of story has been delivered more effectively by more accomplished directors. Mike Newell's direction here is slick and polished but I never quite felt like he made his stamp on the film like say a Scorsese or Ford Coppola might have. Some great acting and a solid script however carried the film home with ease and made 'Donnie Brasco' a highly entertaining crime drama.
One major positive here is that we get to see…
Review by Steve Robinson ★★★★★ 2

I've had many people disagree with me on this but I hold Donnie Brasco up at the same level that I hold the Godfather. A gangster movie that is worthy of being held alongside it. The fact that it is mostly real life events makes the story even more hard hitting however I am aware the reality of a story doesn't make it a good film. What makes this an amazing film is the cast, script, direction and complete creation of 1970's America. Newell does a fantastic job in creating and filming this world.
However, Pacino and Depp as the joint leads of this movie are unstoppable. One of the best performances from Depp ever and one of the best…
Review by jaemart ★★★½ 6

The movie teeters on being a dark mob drama and a cheesy feel-good mob comedy, but I enjoyed it.
Johnny Depp is a babe.
Review by Matt The Snapper ★★★½

I will always remember when Pacino said he shit his pants after being scared by a lion.
Review by Will ★★★ 1

I was not expecting the cast to be so good. Al Pacino was obviously great. He had a really good spell in the 90s of being really cool every time he was on screen. Johnny Depp actually surprised me. I've always liked him as an actor but it was nice to see him play a character that was a bit more reserved.
Review by Italiano Man 🇮🇹 ★★★★ 3

forget about it
Review by nickusen 1

one of the best and actual accurate mob films ever made. more mob films should show guys smashing open parking meters to kick up to the bosses.
al pacino going back to pull his dresser drawer open a little more to ensure his girlfriend finds his watch and rings is heartbreaking.
also if you liked this or my tweets at all I highly recommend reading five families by selwyn raab
Review by Ayden The NinjaPirateBear ★★★★ 3

1997 Ranked
Non-2020 First Time Watches Ranked
Directors Ranked: Mike Newell
I have to admit, I didn't know what to think of this at first because, well, it wasn't what I expected. I expected a mafia film with some guns blazing and shenanigans and whatnot. Instead, we get a really solid story about friendship.
First off, this is one of Pacino's best performances I've seen. It's a very muted performance for him. No HOO AHH in sight. I don't think it is as good as anything in the Godfather trilogy (say what you want about 3, but Pacino is great in it.) At first I thought he started to trust Donnie (played excellently by Depp) too quickly, but as his…
Review by Madison 🎭 ★★★½

al pacino be mentoring people in movies and i be like yes grandpa
Review by kayla ★★★½

GILF ERA PACINO

Recent reviews

Review by Dan ★★★★

Underrated movie
Review by sam_ital ★★★★

Not usually one for mafia movies but this one had depth and the human element to it. Very good.
Review by moochilli ★★★★

pacino really upping his comedic game with this one
Review by jordan ★★★½

Fuhgeddaboudit
Review by Corey ★★★★

this was a pretty entertaining movie
Review by Dirkus_Maximus ★★★★

Today I learned that a wiseguy should never underestimate Donnie Brasco. Although I still may not know what a beaner or fazool actually is (it's definitely money...but how much?!). Glad I finally got around to this one, Pacino absolutely kills it. 4.1 Noonans
Review by taminAM ★★★★

7/10
Review by charleswcs ★★★½

Johnny Depp is magnificent and solid performance from Pacino. Overall above average story. Probably not fair, but the older graphics do make the action scenes not as great
Review by Gthemansham ★★★½

A better crime movie but it can’t compete with the top movies.
Review by Jade ★★★★½

Classic mob film. Al Pacino as a slightly pathetic gangster who thinks he's a bigger deal than he is, johnny depp as an undercover cop who gets too caught up being a gangster
Review by ag_ofgod ★★★

I like a mob movie even though I wanted to fight Johnny Depp half of the movie. It lacks a bit of the “family” element that makes mob movies so good, but this was different so can’t get too picky.
Review by azmoztyks11 ★★★★

Nobody does Pacino better than Pacino! Extraordinary film, underrated in the Crime film genre !! Depp shows off his range in this film.