vigil617
US Veteran
I'm the first to admit it: I can be quite far behind the curve on some things, including having seen some great movies at the time they came out. Thanks to Netflix, though, I'm catching up....
After my recent review of "Stand Up Guys" and the helpful movie suggestions that followed, Mrs.Vigil and I ordered up "Donnie Brasco" and watched it this past week. First time for both of us, even though it's a 1997 movie.
Pacino. Depp. Based on a true story of the FBI's undercover agent (code-named "Donnie Brasco") that penetrated the New York mob back in the late Seventies for six years, and brought down a bunch of them in the process. (A great read in itself; check it out on Wikipedia.)
Anyway, back to the movie. Awesome, capital A! Depp is Brasco, and I doubt you'll recognize him facially. Watch the performance; it's a masterpiece. Pacino is Lefty "Two Guns" Ruggiero, an aging hitman and drone who's always wanted to be "in the book" of the mob, but never quite made it. A review of the movie that I read said Pacino's final scene, as he prepares to leave his apartment, is masterfully understated and touching, and a perfect coda for the film.
I don't know whose performance was better, Pacino's or Depp's, but many folks say it was Pacino's movie and it's hard to disagree. Depp, however, was spectacular as well.
Do yourself a favor, and watch the film before you read the true account. The film takes some liberties, all for the better, and you'll later enjoy finding out more about the true story of the operation and the outcomes later.
This is truly a "you gotta see it" especially if you like the mob-movie genre. If for no other reason (and there are many), to see Brasco explaining to a couple of FBI techs the differing meanings of the ubiquitous New York City and wise-guy phrase "fuhgeddaboutit."
Now, at last, I understand.
After my recent review of "Stand Up Guys" and the helpful movie suggestions that followed, Mrs.Vigil and I ordered up "Donnie Brasco" and watched it this past week. First time for both of us, even though it's a 1997 movie.
Pacino. Depp. Based on a true story of the FBI's undercover agent (code-named "Donnie Brasco") that penetrated the New York mob back in the late Seventies for six years, and brought down a bunch of them in the process. (A great read in itself; check it out on Wikipedia.)
Anyway, back to the movie. Awesome, capital A! Depp is Brasco, and I doubt you'll recognize him facially. Watch the performance; it's a masterpiece. Pacino is Lefty "Two Guns" Ruggiero, an aging hitman and drone who's always wanted to be "in the book" of the mob, but never quite made it. A review of the movie that I read said Pacino's final scene, as he prepares to leave his apartment, is masterfully understated and touching, and a perfect coda for the film.
I don't know whose performance was better, Pacino's or Depp's, but many folks say it was Pacino's movie and it's hard to disagree. Depp, however, was spectacular as well.
Do yourself a favor, and watch the film before you read the true account. The film takes some liberties, all for the better, and you'll later enjoy finding out more about the true story of the operation and the outcomes later.
This is truly a "you gotta see it" especially if you like the mob-movie genre. If for no other reason (and there are many), to see Brasco explaining to a couple of FBI techs the differing meanings of the ubiquitous New York City and wise-guy phrase "fuhgeddaboutit."
Now, at last, I understand.
