Donnie Brasco
TriStar Pictures | Release Date: February 28, 1997 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
77
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 21 Critic Reviews
Positive:
17
Mixed:
4
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
L.A. WeeklyElla Taylor
There are moments here that are so distinct in emotional timber it's as if they were directed by someone who'd skipped the last two decades of American genre film and opted to get back to basics -- like character, and the ways in which two actors can sit in a smoke-filled car and turn an everyday conversation into art. Read full review
100
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
The true soul of the New York mob is portrayed in Donnie Brasco, a first-class Mafia thriller that is also in its way a love story -- perhaps director Mike Newell's best. Read full review
100
SlateDavid Edelstein
It's hard to think of another American film with this range of moods: satirical, sometimes hilarious, yet suffused with a sense of loss and riddled with the kind of violence that makes you recoil and lean forward simultaneously. Read full review
100
USA TodaySusan Wloszczyna
Pacino cans the showboating bluster and gives a gently nuanced portrait of a simple man in decline.
100
Rolling StonePeter Travers
One terrific movie... Pacino and Depp are a match made in acting heaven, riffing off each other with astonishing subtlety and wit. Read full review
91
Entertainment WeeklyMichael Sauter
It's the electric interplay between Pacino and Depp that will make it a Mob movie classic. Read full review
90
The New York TimesJanet Maslin
Crackling good... the best crime movie in a long while. Read full review
90
SalonCharles Taylor
You wouldn't mistake Donnie Brasco for a great movie or an important one, but it's something that's become almost as rare in American movies: a consistently absorbing and intelligent adult entertainment. Read full review
90
NewsweekDavid Ansen
This is Depp's coming-of-age role, and he's terrific. Pacino, who's shown more flash than substance recently, reminds us how great he can be when he loses himself inside a character. The bond between these two makes the film sing. Read full review
88
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
The violence in this movie is gruesome (a scene involving the disposal of bodies is particularly graphic). But the movie has many human qualities and contains what will be remembered as one of Pacino's finest scenes. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick Groen
What better casting than Al Pacino, whose own career, of course, has reflected all the seasonal changes in the gangster saga. Pacino takes the part and runs with it so boldly that he ends up in Arthur Miller land. Read full review
75
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
This sort of story has been told many times before, but thoughtful performances by Al Pacino and Johnny Depp make it more engrossing than expected. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
Perhaps the most impressive thing that Newell has done with Donnie Brasco is to cull an atypically low-key and introspective performance from Al Pacino, an actor known for manic, scenery-chewing efforts. Read full review
70
Chicago ReaderLisa Alspector
Depp conveys his character's ambivalence and ambiguity with utter conviction, and though the annoying score tries to throw Pacino's monologues over the top, his persuasive, low-key performance puts the violins in their place. Read full review
70
VarietyTodd McCarthy
The psychological dimensions of the story remain underrealized, but the loaded central premise and intimate focus the film sustains combine for a very involving and dramatic piece of crime lore. Read full review
70
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
Depp's tight, guarded performance is almost painful to watch, and Newell seems to have reined in the flamboyant Pacino, whose portrait of the mobster as a grumpy old woman may be his best work in years. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
It’s [Depp's] first genuine “adult” role (not counting the tedious Nick of Time), and it allows him the freedom and emotional range to move, speak, and deal with issues more as an actor and less as a brat-packer. Read full review
60
Dallas ObserverPeter Rainer
Because the filmmakers have skewed the story into a Donnie-Lefty lovefest, the breakage of their trust signals the breakage of Donnie's spirit even in triumph. Case closed. It's the kind of fade-out we might expect from the it's-all-hopeless era of '60s counterculture movies. It's emotionally effective, but also a cheat. Read full review
40
Washington PostRita Kempley
Unfortunately, the story isn't inventive and Newell's methodical approach to it verges on monotony. Read full review
40
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
That bland, opaque quality is a disadvantage here; whatever else [Depp] is capable of, making audiences feel his pain is not at the top of the list. Read full review
40
Washington PostDesson Thomson
The movie’s disappointingly straightforward, with no discernible flair. Read full review
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