Some 12 years before Johnny Depp would portray the legendary bank robber John Dillinger on the big screen, he was given the opportunity to portray another legendary figure within the mafia – Donnie Brasco.

“Donnie” himself was a relatively low level enforcer, sent on errands by Capos of the Bonnano crime family, so why was he such a legend? Simple, “Donnie Brasco”, mafia soldier of 6 years was in fact Joseph D. Pistone, agent for the FBI and one of only a handful of people who have ever managed to infiltrate the secretive crime syndicate known as La Cosa Nostra – The Mafia.

Loosely based on Pistone’s true story, Donnie Brasco stars Johnny Depp, Al Pacino and Michael Madsen and was nominated for an Academy Award in the “Best Adapted Screenplay” category. The film has had mostly positive reviews since its release and currently holds an 87% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Put simply, this film is a heavyweight in the Gangster/Mafia world of cinema.

This true story follows FBI agent Joe Pistone as he infiltrates the mafia of New York. Befriending Lefty Ruggiero, Pistone (under the name Donnie Brasco) is able to embed himself in a mafia faction lead by Sonny Black. Ruggiero and Pistone become tight as the group goes about collecting money for ‘the bosses’. Eventually, the group become big time when Black himself becomes a boss, all the while Pistone collects evidence. However, the trials and tribulations of the undercover work become more than Pistone can bear. His marriage falls apart and to top it off, the mafia suspect a mole in the organization. The real dilemma is afforded to Pistone, who knows if he walks away from the mafia, Ruggiero will be the one punished.

The film starts out at the beginning, having spent months observing the group, Pistone finally makes his play and attempts to integrate himself into the circle of button men, using his cover as a jewel thief to do so. Using Ruggiero as his ticket in, Pistone soon finds himself building a mutual love and respect for his new found mentor that provides the backbone for the film.

The thing that strikes me about this film is that it is completely different from any of it’s predecessors. While most gangster movies tell a story from the top, from the seat of power, here is a film that tells the story of the man on the street. We all know now how Corleones of this world orchestrate their grand plans, organising massive hits in a ruthless struggle to maintain their positions as top dog. But what about the people sent to carry out those hits, what about the nameless, faceless soldiers that actually get their hands dirty while the bosses sit back and count their money?

This is the charm of Donnie Brasco, Lefty Ruggiero (played brilliantly by former Godfather Al Pacino), is a disheartened button man for the bosses. Having spent decades working hard and staying loyal, Ruggiero has nothing to show for it other than a devoted girlfriend and a junky for a son. He lives in an unassuming apartment block, never has any money to call his own and even more startling he also has testicular cancer. In short, his life couldn’t be any further removed from the glitz and glamour of previous genre pieces.

Despite Lefty’s loyalty to the family, he lives in constant fear of saying or doing the wrong thing at the cost of his own life. This is a movie that really hammers home the fact that in “our thing”, life is very cheap. As Lefty himself says “you go in alive, you come out dead and it’s your best friend who does it”.

Into this life comes Pistone, or to use his assumed name, Donnie Brasco. Donnie is a family man, having been in the FBI for some years prior to his mission he’s comfortable, well educated and has a loving wife and children at home. And yet despite their differences, Brasco and Lefty build a strong father-son bond in which Brasco begins to question his own actions. The transformation undertaken by Depp in the film is also a stark image to behold. As his mission – originally intended to last a mere few months begins to drag on and on, Brasco finds himself becoming more and more the gangster. In the end he spent six years undercover, now how long would it take for you to change irreversibly if you spent six years of your waking life living a lie?

It has to be said that the acting in this film is superb, having watched it more times than I can remember (most recently yesterday), it’s difficult for me to comprehend how Depp wasn’t elevated to the levels of super-stardom he now lives with during the release of this film. Depp himself is clearly a method actor, and a dedicated one at that. During production he spent a lot of time with the real life Pistone, learning about his memories, his life and adopting his mannerisms in a way that is now a rare thing in Hollywood.

Pacino pulls of a class turn as the beaten-down Ruggiero, perhaps more so because I still envisage him as the sharply dressed Michael Corleone in the Godfather trilogy. His character in this picture is one that begs sympathy for the poor mans plight. Yes he “clipped” 26 guys during his career, but this is a life he was born into, not necessarily one he would have chosen as he himself alludes to in the film.

All in all the film is a pleasure to watch, and even after 12 years have passed, and I’ve seen it umpteen times, it still manages to build a level of suspense that few films since have managed. Forget The Godfather, forget Goodfellas, if you really want to know what life would be like in the Mafia, then I would suggest Donnie Brasco every time.

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