Top 100 Movies Of The 1990's: #28 Donnie Brasco
Box Office: $41.9 Million
Oscar Nominations: Best Adapted Screenplay
Oscar Wins: None
MovieRankings.Net: 83/100
Available To Stream: Pluto TV, Amazon Prime ($4)
Much like how Unforgiven deconstructed the Western, Donnie Brasco does the same with the Mafia genre. Obviously, The Sopranos hits this as well but to me, that show is so much deeper and richer. The Sopranos also had the time to dissect everything from what it means to be a criminal and even what it means to live in America at the turn of the century. It tackles what it means to be a middle-aged guy as well as why we as an audience roots for such evil men.
Donnie Brasco is focused on ripping away our expectations for a Mafia movie. Like Unforgiven and Clint Eastwood, casting Al Pacino as Lefty is perfect. We know and expect Pacino to be in charge. As an audience, we may love and hate Michael Corleone but he always demands respect. To see Pacino play this washed up loser is shocking. Of course, Pacino is flawless as Lefty, a guy who never got a break and probably never deserved one. He's a perfect character for Johnny Depp's Brasco to fool because Lefty is exactly that.
This whole movie goes against what we expect. The scene where Lefty is thinking he is about to get get whacked only to get a lion. It shows the paranoia these guys feel on a constant basis. You're never really safe. These tough guys are surrounded by fear all the time. But examine how that scene is shot. We as the audience is to assume Lefty is in big trouble because that's what we have been told as filmgoers so often.
We are also rooting for a rat in Donnie Brasco. This is yet another frustrating Johnny Depp viewing experience where you see how talented this guy used to be before he turned his career into being a pirate for Walt Disney. Before Leonardo DiCaprio (his co-star in What's Eating Gilbert Grape (#79)) grabbed the title of being that generation's best actor, Depp was right there with Edward Norton in contention. He holds his own with Pacino in each and every scene they are in together.
Even the director Mike Newell is not what you'd expect. He is a British guy and was coming off Four Weddings And A Funeral. He wound up making an excellent Mafia movie that you'd think could only be made by someone with serious connections to the genre.
I'm guessing some people will be shocked to see this ahead of Heat. Admittedly, Heat has better specific scenes. Hell, the diner scene with Pacino and De Niro is one of the very best of the whole decade. But it also is bloated and has weird performances that completely take you out of the movie.
What I love about Brasco is the soul of the movie. Despite being a 26 time murderer (at least), Pacino has us liking Lefty. The movie respects the audience enough to show him with his family but also cutting up people and shooting his friend in cold blood. We are supposed to be conflicted just like Donnie and I like that the movie doesn't hold our hand.
Joe Pistone (the actual undercover cop who became Donnie Brasco) is still alive. Talk about a true hero. I can't imagine being 1/1000th that brave. Check out the NYPD/NYFD hockey game on Sunday. I got to walk with some of these guys last week and they were great.
28. Donnie Brasco
29. Heat
30. Terminator 2: Judgement Day
31. Rounders
32. Unforgiven
33. Trainspotting
34. The Game
35. Out Of Sight
36. Carlito's Way
37. Seven
38. L.A. Confidential
39. Speed
40. Gattaca
41. Misery
42. Tombstone
43. Ransom
44. Wayne's World
45. The Insider
46. Back To The Future Part III
47. A Bronx Tale
48. The People Vs. Larry Flynt
49. Eyes Wide Shut
50. The Sandlot
51. Happy Gilmore
52. Contact
53. The Green Mile
54. Man On The Moon
55. Boyz N The Hood
56. Grosse Pointe Blank
57. Independence Day
58. The Rainmaker
59. Go
60. The Firm
61. Magnolia
62. The Talented Mr. Ripley
63. Tommy Boy
64. The Usual Suspects
65. In The Line Of Fire
66. My Cousin Vinny
67. Awakenings
68. JFK
69. Toy Story
70. Home Alone
71. Jerry Maguire
72. Titanic
73. Billy Madison
74. Apollo 13
75. Braveheart
76. Edward Scissorhands
77. Cape Fear
78. The River Wild
79. What's Eating Gilbert Grape?
80. 12 Monkeys
81. Stir Of Echoes
82. Mission: Impossible
83. Total Recall
84. Quiz Show
85. For Love Of The Game
86. Being John Malkovich
87. Men In Black
88. Scream
89. Alive
90. Three Kings
91. Glengarry Glen Ross
92. Die Hard With A Vengeance
93. The Blair Witch Project
94. Twister
95. Dirty Work
96. Election
97. Tremors
98. Any Given Sunday
99. The Wedding Singer
100. Clerks