Sony has come out with an unrated “Extended Edition” of the 1997 classic mob film Donnie Brasco. This continues a recent trend of Sony re-releasing several of the Tri-Star films that they acquired when they bought the former studio’s library of films. For Donnie Brasco, this is the THIRD different DVD release and unfortunately, this one is a cheap attempt by Sony to try and rook you out of your hard earned cash.
Yes, there is 20 extra minutes of footage but ALMOST ALL of it adds NOTHING to the film and the extras have all been imported from the previous DVD release with the curious exception of the director’s commentary by Mike Newell. That leads me to believe that this was NOT director approved. In the past with other Sony extended/director’s cuts of films like The Natural, Bugsy and even the upcoming Revenge there are CLEAR indicators that the director had approved this version such as an intro explaining the changes, a retrospective documentary where the director acknowledges the changes or a commentary by the director. Here you have none of them.
On the surface a mob story, Donnie Brasco is at heart a love story in a father/son, teacher/student way between the two main characters Joe Pistone a.k.a Donnie Brasco (Johnny Depp) and Ben “Lefty” Ruggiero (Al Pacino). Joe Pistone is an undercover agent F.B.I. man posing as a small time jeweler named Donnie Brasco. At the beginning, Donnie is still waiting for his chance to gain the confidence of the local mobsters. He hangs out in the coffee shops where the tough guys hang out and eventually catches the eye of Lefty. Lefty asks him to do a jewel fence for him and in a wonderfully hilarious scene of improv on Donnie’s part he comes through and shows Lefty that he’s for real.
Lefty takes him under his wing and shows him the rules and ways of the mob. This is significant not just for Donnie who has finally gotten his “in” but for Lefty, a sad, pathetic over the hill low-level mobster/hitman who desperately needs someone to respect him and look up to him. He certainly gets none from his own crew, which consists of the carefree jokester Nicky (the late, great Bruno Kirby), hard as nails and suspicious Paulie (James Russo) and the leader of the crew Sonny Black (Michael Madsen), an enigmatic but highly volatile gangster.
Lefty is a lifer in the mob but has NOTHING to show for it. He is always passed up for getting “upped” and is still just a lowly triggerman. Lefty is constantly broke, can’t take care of his girlfriend Annette, his son is a junkie and even worse Lefty is in the medical books for having “cancer of the prick.” Donnie is a breathe of fresh air to Lefty who views him as the son he always wanted but never had. Lefty introduces Donnie to the crew as “a friend of mine.” This means that Lefty is responsible for Donnie and his actions as it is he who brought him into the crew. At first, this means nothing to Donnie but as the story progresses, it means more and more to him as he grows to love the sad, old man who’s only claim to glory after a lifetime of dedication and honor to the mafia is that he’s “clipped 26 guys.” As Donnie becomes more involved with Lefty and the crew, he begins to neglect his wife Maggie (Anne Heche) and his three daughters in the suburbs. This is but one of several problems that develop as the film progresses.
In addition to his growing neglect of his family, Donnie has to deal with witnessing several murders as he goes on jobs with the crew, a growing feud between his crew and another rival crew, protecting his identity at the expense of innocent people’s lives (a scene in a Japanese restaurant where he refuses to take off his shoes is truly chilling), and even having to dispose of dead bodies. Donnie becomes so trusted that in fact, Sonny Black decides to make him his second in command, in the process taking him away from Lefty, which Lefty perceives as a betrayal. During a scene aboard a yacht in Florida, you can literally see Pacino’s sadness seep through his hardened face as Sonny introduces Donnie to a Florida mob boss as “a friend of ours.” Sonny Black has been “upped” to a higher position of authority, which may sound nice but also brings with it a monthly vig of 50,000 dollars to the head of the family who is in jail.
One of the unique things about Donnie Brasco is that you NEVER get the sense that being a gangster is any fun for these guys. It is hard, brutal work that rarely if ever pays off. You see them freezing in the cold, waiting for whichever boss is still alive to grace them with his presence and walk by like a king. There is nothing glamorous or even remotely fun about this mob life. Even in Goodfellas, a film that this will remind you of more than once, you see SOME of the perks of being a mobster; nice tables at the Copa, beautiful houses, numerous mistresses. In Donnie Brasco, there is none of that. Everyone is in constant fear of getting whacked due to not being able to make enough money to cover their vig. After a deal goes bad in Florida, the crew is convinced that there is a rat in their midst. It turns out that, even though we know about Donnie and they don’t, that the deal going bad had to do with the rival gang family in New York that they had been sparring with. Meanwhile Donnie is becoming more and more like the men he hangs out with, has stopped communicating with his F.B.I. partners and at one point actually strikes his wife in a frenzied scene of great intensity and bluntness as Depp is searching HIS OWN HOUSE for a bag of money that he has hidden.
When he and his wife finally break down to each other, it is a sad catharsis as each admits to the other how disconnected their lives have become. Eventually the film hinges on what Lefty does when he discovers some crucial information that may blow Donnie’s cover. Ultimately it is Pacino and Depp that dominate the film although the supporting cast more than carry their own weight. Pacino perfectly portrays the pathetic Lefty as the complete antithesis to his Michael Corleone. As powerful, dominating and feared as Michael was, Lefty is impotent both literally and figuratively, weak and given little to no respect. It is one of Pacino’s more underrated roles and would temper the backlash that he had been getting after his histrionics in Scent of a Woman and Heat had labeled him an overactor. Pacino wisely plays down Lefty and gives him several quietly sad, heartbreaking moments where amidst everyone having fun whether at a club or beach, you see Lefty in the same clothes, with the same look on his face, wishing he could have fun like the others but clearly can’t.
Depp really came into his own here as Donnie. He had already gained the reputation as an actor that went for eccentric, non box office type roles but he had never shown the range and intensity he does here. You see the conflict in his eyes throughout as he straddles the line between loyalty to his job and loyalty to Lefty. The job takes an emotional toll on him that you see right before your eyes. Ironically, both Lefty and Donnie are “betrayed” by the groups they had sworn loyalty to and had given their lives to. Lefty gets a cruel equivalent of a “gold watch” by the mob and Donnie is shown the gratitude for his work by the F.B.I. by him being given the equivalent of a bag of popcorn.
It’s a credit to the writing of Paul Attanasio and director Mike Newell that they explore this aspect to conclude the film. The supporting cast Madsen, Kirby, Russo and Heche all bring originality and depth to their characters and each has a powerhouse scene that defines their character. Look for an early Paul Giamatti and Tim Blake Nelson, billed as F.B.I. technicians here, in a classic scene where Depp explains the many different meanings of “fugeddaboutit.” Attanasio’s writing, which was nominated for an Oscar, is grittier and feels more real then just about any mob movie other than Goodfellas.
Newell, who was coming off of Four Weddings and a Funeral, might have seemed an odd choice, but he makes the film his own by giving it his own slant and while making the violence in the film extremely graphic, he uses it sparingly and to great effect. Patrick Doyle’s beautiful, haunting score, which recalls something that the great Ennio Morricone might have come up with, is a constant reminder as to the hopelessness of everyone involved. The original version of the film is a masterpiece. The original cut ran 127 minutes while this extended cut clocks in at 147, nearly two and a half hours. Most of this footage is simply filler that was OBVIOUSLY edited out because it added nothing. Extra scenes of Gretchen Mol who is still billed as “Sonny’s girlfriend,” extra scenes of Lefty walking his tiger and said tiger taking a shit on the street, some more domestic scenes with Depp and Heche that are forgettable, a scene of Depp trashing his hotel after he’s just witnessed his first murder (given Depp’s history with hotel rooms, that was probably no acting there), a truly pointless scene in a Florida hotel room where Lefty and Donnie get into a fight, and more. These extras truly slow the film down and you are clearly aware as to why they were left out.
About the only extra that even remotely seems interesting is a subplot that deals with Donnie and his family getting audited by the IRS. Yet, the uncaring nature of the government that he has faithfully devoted himself too is already made painfully clear at the end so, much like the rest of the new footage, it seems like overkill of themes and actions that have already been shown.
The extras included here, minus the director’s commentary, have been lifted from the previous and better version. They include the 23-minute Out from the Shadows that goes through the origins and making of the film and features the real Joe Pistone and a brief seven-minute promotional featurette. Other than that, there’s a 3-minute photo montage and some trailers. There was clearly NO thought at all behind this version. If there had been, this would’ve been a 2-disc set, the Newell commentary would have been included and the original, and much better, theatrical version would’ve been included as well. Donnie Brasco, in its original form, was one of the more underrated films of the 90s. That is the version you should seek. If you own the previous version, HANG ON TO IT. If you’re a big fan of the film and are intrigued by the new footage…RENT IT DON’T BUY IT. Part of what made the original so good was that the editing was so tight. There was rarely ever a throwaway moment. In this cut, you are inundated with them.
I am surprised at this because, for the most part, Sony has done a stellar job with these director’s cuts or extended cuts or whatever euphemism you like when it comes to double or triple dipping films with the enticement of new footage. They have dropped the ball with this one. It’s almost insulting that they would release this. The original Donnie Brasco gets a four out of five. The extended cut gets a one out of five. That’s because I’ve never reviewed a zero yet.
Donnie Brasco (Extended Cut) is now available at Amazon . As of yet, this version of the DVD is not available in the UK. Visit the DVD database for more information.
Your Talkback on this Story