The Good
I didn’t realize it at the time but I was seeing another mob classic.
The Bad
Okay, this movie has more footage but the new and old featurettes seem recycled and redundant.
Johnny Depp plays the title role of Donnie Brasco in this mob classic. Depp is actually Joe Pistone, an FBI Agent who is commissioned to the infiltrate the mafia. Taking on the name Donnie Brasco ecomes known as a very smart, shrewd jeweler. Brasco does this with the help of Lefty Ruggiero (Al Pacino). Lefty is a fading mafioso who sees Donnie as someone who can maybe help him attain some of the dreams and money that have alluded him. As Brasco and Lefty grow closer this takes an immense toll of Depp both emotionally and mentally. His wife (Anne Heche) wants her husband back and Lefty thinks he’s found a son. It soon becomes clear to Donnie that when he finally busts this whole thing wide open, Lefty is going to be killed by the mob to which he has devoted his whole life. It is this conflict that drives this movie forward while at the same time giving viewers a solid look at the world of organized crime.
Having only seen this movie in the theater and now on DVD, I think that time has been very good to Donnie Brasco. When I first saw it I didn’t understand what was so great about it. I worked at an inline skating company with a bunch of younger people and they couldn’t help quoting the movie incessantly. Now, after all these years I think I understand what moviewatchers were taken by with this grand film.
Features
Donnie Brasco: Out From the Shadows and Original Featurette
I hate to say it but I expected more from these featurettes and they didn’t deliver. First the positives, if you were at all curious about the characters in the film, how well they were captured on screen, why they were cast, etc? Both featurettes do a decent job of giving you this information. Also, the real Joseph Pistone is on hand to vouch for the validity of this movie. Now, the bad part is that these two featurettes are exactly the same. They cover essentially identical ground with the Original Featurette feeling like a mere photo copy of Donnie Brasco: Out From the Shadows. Also, they repurpose interviews with people like Johnny Depp. I understand that we’re supposed to be excited about this new cut of the film, and that Depp has gotten quite busy since making this movie. However, I don’t know that consumers should have to be penalized with what is essentially a studio double-dip in their pocket.
Photo Gallery
Pictures from the film are shown and the camera moves in every conceivable direction around them. We hear music and dialogue from the film and in a few instances they even include actual production noise. While this probably only took Sony’s DVD division about 10 minutes to put together, if you have never seen this section before it does give you a nice thumbnail look at the film before you watch it. Or, you could just peruse the movie’s theatrical trailer.
Video
Anamorphic Widescreen - 2.35:1. This film looked solid. One thing I noticed when I first saw it (and it’s been carried over to this DVD) is that Director Mike Newell uses a lot of harsh, dark colors. There’s a great deal of black and browns, all of which play very nicely in the world that’s been created for the big and small screens. This disc played flawlessly. I noticed no real dirt on any of the images, and I was also amazed how undated this film seems. I have to applaud Sony for the work they have done on this DVD’s transfer.
Audio
Dolby Digital. Mastered in High Definition. Close Captioned. Language - English 5.1 (Dolby Digital). Subtitled in English and French. This film sounded really good on DVD. I remember when I saw it in in the theater it seemed like the mix was off. I missed a lot of the one liners and aside comments that make a good deal of these mob films. I should have watched this DVD on a surround sound set up but I sadly had to settle for my one speaker deal. Even on that admittedly lacking system things played very nicely, and I was able to follow this movie a lot easier than in the theater.
Package
With an almost animated looking copper background, Donnie and Lefty are seen in full color on this front cover. I think this was the same image that was used when this movie came out theatrically. The back cover shows us shots from this film (all with a copper tint), a description of what Donnie Brasco is about, a Special Features listing, a cast list and Sony’s usual assortment of system specs. There is a vinyl, cardboard covering that goes over the amaray packaging that contains the same information.
Final Word
I think this movie features one of Al Pacino’s least recognized perfoRmances. Whenever his career is talked about it seems like we hear people speak of Scent of a Woman, The Godfather, Heat… but nobody ever really talks about the subtle work he did here as Lefty. I also didn’t know how deeply he goes into putting these characters together. From such minute things as choosing the clothes, the jewelry… it is truly astonishing how he puts these characters together. Perhaps people are a bit confused by how understated he is here. He doesn’t yell loudly like I think we’ve gotten used to (and some people are even put off by). Rather, he seems content to let his character’s emotions in all areas simply play across his face.
I might question certain things about the supplemental features for this DVD but I no longer question what a great film Donnie Brasco is.
