seen february 15 , 1998 on home video ( borrowed from chris wessell ) . 
when it comes to modern gangster movies , it's really difficult to describe and review them without making comparisons to other films of the genre and/or just using the word " routine . " 
i've always subscribed to the philosophy that any idea ( no matter how many times it's been used before ) can provide for a good story and " donnie brasco " clinches this idea . 
it's not unlike most of the great films of the genre , yet it never apes another's style as it has a good layer of authenticity , even if its core is a tad stale . 
the film starts off in typical fashion by defining its atmosphere of new york city in the late 1970s and the mobsters who inhibit it . 
we meet lefty ( pacino ) , an aging wiseguy who can still walk the walk and talk the talk . 
he and his associates go through the generic motions you expect to see in crime films like this . 
somehow he comes across donnie brasco ( depp ) , a younger guy with a lot of spunk who isn't afraid of lefty and his rep , and even manages to befriend him after lefty was ready to kill him . 
it's clear donnie is new to the life and lefty recognizes this immediately , telling him all the tricks of the trade . 
i have never seen this technique of actually revealing the mafioso idiosyncrasies done before and for this the film deserves credit . 
however , we soon realize donnie is actually joe pistone , an fbi agent working undercover - a character who symbolizes the viewer as he will soon be purged into the lifestyle and treated as a newcomer . 
the first act works as a guided to ot of rhetoric about wiseguy honor , a brief history of the mob , definitions of their slang , and where their money comes from and who it goes to . 
the screenplay is rather sketchy on the details surrounding these elements , however , the fact they are mentioned at all is quite original . 
most gangster movies seem to be made with the notion the viewer already knows how the mob works ( probably from watching other gangster movies ) , and although this attitude comes across , the film tries to fill in all the holes where and when it can and the effort is appreciable . 
thankfully the film doesn't become too caught up in the tedious details of organized crime , and instead opts for character development . 
much of the story is told simply through the interaction between lefty and donnie . 
pacino is outstanding here as the pathetic hood who speaks of his job in the same manner any blue collar worker would . 
he's old and exhausted but seems to enjoy what he does , just as anyone loyal to the same employer for over 30 years might be . 
we learn of his accomplishments , which are quite impressive within their context , and when he complains about not being made top boss , it's easy to sympathize with him . 
newell constantly plays up this aspect , making it a major theme which works well in the long run . 
as donnie is constantly impressing and even one-upping lefty , it's hard to tell which emotion is more powerful : the fact donnie is getting closer to nailing the mob ; or the fact lefty has once again been over shadowed . 
most of the film tells the story of donnie's life in mafia , which creates for many sub-plots and individual conflicts , but doesn't always seem to come together as a whole . 
the storytelling is genuinely interesting throughout , even when the motions the characters go through seem familiar . 
the resonance to donnie's actual assignment varies , he often reports back to the feds with detail of his progress , but it doesn't always seem to have much meaning . 
back home , his wife maggie ( heche ) is ready to divorce him because he's never a and the family is suffering . 
since this is based on a true story i wouldn't doubt this would happen , although the way it is handled often borders on the melodramatic . 
my only major complaint is the film seems to have no final act , or at least any real sense of closure . 
a climax of sorts does occur , but there's little feeling of a payoff . 
we get a happy ending , which is good , but perhaps a sad ending would have been more powerful . 
aside from a few minor , general flaws , " donnie brasco " manages to be a solid piece of storytelling and character development . 
it may be routine , but it's good , and that's respectful .