DONNIE BRASCO

 

I wasn’t lying when i said i liked Al Pacino here, watching Heat has got me in the mood to watch a few of his other 90’s films.

When i first found this movie i was shocked, i picked it up and said to myself:

“wtf? Johnny Depp and Al Pacino did a movie together? A gangster movie at that? And i didn’t know about this until now?”

Needless to say i scooped it up straight away and didn’t wait to watch it, as they are indeed my two favourite actors (although Depp’s career as of late, has been rather uneven).

 

THE STORY

Undercover cop Joe Pistone infiltrates the Italian Mob under the alias Donnie Brasco, however his growing friendship with his mobster mentor Lefty and his family’s suffering over his long absences, threatens to tear him apart.

 

THE GOOD

Al Pacino gives what i would say is one of his later career’s stand out performances. He plays his gangster Lefty as a hunched over worn out mobster, who feels he should deserve better. His longing stares, and fruitless plans are a great change from the usual “man with the plan” or leadership roles he usually takes. Lefty is the complete opposite of Michael Corleone, he’s a man who isn’t noticed because he isn’t a leader, and will forever be thought of as someone who is dependable.

Depp on the other hand plays his Joe Pistone, as a man who is slowly starting to unravel. His constant and growing guilt assaulting him from both his job of betraying his friend Lefty, and ditching his family to hang out with mobsters. Worst yet is how over the course of the film, he starts to lose the cop Joe Pistone to gangster Donnie Brasco. Coupled with a solid supporting cast of Michael Madsen and Anne Heche among others, no one should be complaining about acting here.

Aside from the performances the story provides an interesting look at how the Italian Mafia functioned in the late 70’s. Terms like “Wise Guy”, “Skipper”, and the difference between being a friend of mine versus a friend of ours, are all explained.

 

THE BAD

While most of the scenes that show the cost of Joe Pistone’s actions of leaving his family for years are effective for the most part, there is one scene in particular that strikes me as really out of place. This would be when Joe and his wife Maggie go to a marriage councillor. It just comes out of left field and is as awkward to sit through as it would be for the characters. Maggie relates to the councillor about how he leaves for months, knowing full well the reason why.

Joe knows that his absence is ruining his family, why are we having the characters tell me what i already can see going on? I think anyone actually watching the film can figure out this couple’s problems, so this scene is just bizarre; it doesn’t illuminate motivations, it adds no subtext, and it’s just out of place in a hard hitting gangster film.

 

THE UGLY

While the performances manage to make Donnie Brasco noteworthy, ultimately if you’ve watched a lot of gangster/undercover cop movies, you’ve probably already seen all this before. I can read its events off like a check list:

1. Undercover cop who is burning/burnt out? Check.
2. Suffering personal life and/or family life supplies pathos to cop? Check.
3. Charismatic Mobsters? Check.
4. Cop’s growing guilt over eventual betrayal of said gangster? Check.

I can go on, but that distracts from the point that i want to make, which is the fact that when you boil down any story they all end up sounding the same. It’s the details that make a difference, and the details in Donnie Brasco are so well done, that it remains a great entry into the gangster/cop movie oeuvre.

 

**** OUT OF FIVE

INSOMNIA

not a poster, but damn cool

 

 

I’ve reviewed too many hum drum films lately, so i decided to go for one that scores a bit higher with me.

Insomnia was the first film from Christopher Nolan that i had watched. My family and i caught a matinee of it at the old Movies 12 and that would make it one of the first matinees that i ever watched, and let me just add that coming out of this movie in the middle of the day is a rather disorienting experience.

As for the film itself, it has the rotten luck of being released between Memento and Batman Begins, which is ultimately a shame. As its been largely forgotten and buried underneath everything else that came afterwards.

 

THE STORY

In this Remake of a 1997 Swedish film, Detective Dormer finds himself burning the candle at both ends as he tries to solve the murder of a teenage girl, and cover up his own murder of his partner.

 

THE GOOD

The story itself is a layered affair (something i wish Heat was), with subplots and motivations adding tone and texture to the rather straight forward murder mystery. Watching the story unfold, i get the sense that Dormer is driven less and less by this case, and is driven more and more by an overwhelming sense of guilt. Not just for shooting his partner, but for all the cases where he bent the rules and all the victims that he failed to provide justice. Its a classic case of “man vs self”, and provides the heart of the story.

I wonder why Mr. Nolan hasn’t elected to do more of these cop/killer dramas. His predilection for constant exposition is extremely well suited to situations the require a lot of explanations. But even more interestingly he is far more restrained here than he is in Inception or Interstellar. Much of the motivations are provided by the looks and subtle performances provided by the cast, much of the details are presented naturally and evolve out of the case as it is investigated. Its almost as if Nolan were just a tad bit braver in his early films, and let the character’s actions speak for themselves. But i have a feeling it has more to do with the fact that Nolan and his brothers had nothing to do with writing the screen play.

Speaking of the cast, everyone here is top notch. Al Pacino gives one of his more subdued performances, playing a man battling physical, mental, and spiritual exhaustion and reminds me why he’s one of the greats. Robin Williams is a rather perfect fit as a creepy and off putting killer that Dormer is forced into co-operating with, and a Pre-Million Dollar Baby Hillary Swank plays her wide eyed cop with a sense of intelligence that is rather hard to not like, and easily explains why she would go on to win her Oscar.

 

THE BAD

I guess i’ll put the fact that this is a remake of an already decent Swedish film here, for a lack of being able to actually put my thumb on anything that i don’t like.

I have seen the remake, however i did view it after i had seen this version of the story. I will be honest and say that i prefer the American version over the Swedish one. There were some strange story elements that i couldn’t quite get behind, and the ending of the original left me cold. I will watch it again one day though, and may like it as its own thing.

 

THE UGLY

Insomnia would appear to be the forgotten middle child of Nolan’s works, i would say its more obscure than The Prestige. Which again is a shame as it is frankly a better movie than the latter, as it is a mature and highly psychological cop thriller, with a great cast, interesting premise and sub plotting, and a layered well motivated story.

I strongly recommend giving it a look, especially if you’re a fan of cop movies and/or anyone involved.

 

**** OUT OF FIVE

HEAT

 

I’m shocked that it took as long as it did to get these two actors (certainly the two greatest of their generation) to do a scene where they talked to one another. I suppose budgetary constraints and other mundane things got in the way until it landed on De Niro’s desk and he talked his colleague into making it with him.

Honestly i think they should have waited to do “The Insider” together, as the material would have allowed them to stretch their legs a little more. But shall we get on to it?

 

THE GOOD

Since this is a Michael Mann film, the visuals have to be addressed. Mann and his long time DOP Dante Spinotti, create a slick and visually interesting thriller despite all of the gun metal greys and sickly fluorescent greens that surround the movie. Action scenes like the initial armoured car jacking and explosive bank robbery shoot out, make me long for the times when you could actually make out what was happening on screen the first time around.

Good performances are also in plentiful supply here, as even a bit part like Natalie Portman’s hapless step daughter are handled with great care. The three leads of Kilmer, Pacino, and De Niro are clearly all game here and any fan of them will probably end up liking what they see.

 

THE BAD

Good God this movie is in desperate need of some trimming shears. At almost 3 hours long, the film almost collapses under the weight of its own sense of self importance and unnecessary sub plots. We have secondary characters being introduced out of left field 40 minutes into the film, with no pay off or reason in sight for hours afterword. We have a go nowhere serial killer sub plot that only serves to give me more reasons to be creeped out by Kevin Gage. We have Mann trying to wring the melodrama out of the script with both hands, by giving bit parts overly long and needlessly over emotional scenes.

Characters flood the movie to the point where i had trouble keeping track of everyone’s names. Who’s Anna and why should i care? Oh, she’s the woman who wasn’t terrified of Danny Trejo, that was on screen for all of 45 seconds. It’s not as bad as “Karas” but then again most things would have to try very hard to be.

But lets forget all that and get down to the real reason why most people went to go see the movie, that being De Niro and Pacino finally sharing a scene together. I’ll tell you straight up i wasn’t very impressed the first time i saw it, and i’m still not impressed with it now. I can see that Mann and the actors purposefully did the scene as subtle and subdued as possible, but for all the back and forth about “doing what you gotta do” and dream analysis, the material just isn’t very deep and doesn’t give the actors very much to work with. As the character’s motivations are clear from the very beginning, as their actions speak louder than their words here. This conversation they have wouldn’t be out of place as a vignette in “Coffee and Cigarettes”, and just isn’t worth the amount of time invested in waiting, nor the actor’s respective talents.

As for the actors themselves, i’ll watch Pacino’s movies over De Niro’s any day of the week. While the two are no less talented than the other, De Niro’s frown, furrowed brow, and constantly bored demeanour just doesn’t impress me at all. While its fair to say that Pacino’s cigarette dry delivery and overly loud out bursts, get old after the hundredth time, i just find he has more energy and charisma around him.

 

THE UGLY

“Heat” in the end is a rather frustrating affair. Underneath it’s an effective cops and robbers story, but it’s bogged down by its bloated running length. It’s got Robert De Niro and Al Pacino sharing the screen together, but the material given to them isn’t very challenging. It’s greatness is ham stringed by its crippling faults, and its a shame.

Had Mann had just crafted the film into the tight, slick, and effective cat and mouse thriller that it really wants to be, instead of the over wrought and bloated hum drum character study it is, we would have a great movie. As a result it’s worth a look for anyone curious, but it is by no means a standout piece of work by anyone involved in the making of this film.

 

** 1/2 OUT OF FIVE