Johnny Depp comes of age in 'Donnie Brasco'

By Laksmi Pamuntjak-Djohan

JAKARTA (JP): Mafia movies seem to have carved themselves a cushy niche within Hollywood's cinematic firmament.

Whether they tell of the powerful patriarchs of Francis Ford Coppola's epic Godfather trilogy, the brutal gangsters of Martin Scorcese's Goodfellas, or the half-demented thugs of Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs, they provide moving glimpses of how the Cosa Nostra code of honor invariably wins over traditional morality in America's darkest social corridors.

Camaraderie and loyalty are presented as inviolable tenets superseding all other attachments outside "the family", and betrayal is deemed the ultimate sin deserving only of death.

Despite its flawed morals, such numbingly familiar issues have become a film noir staple that have hooked moviegoers for decades. They have recently given rise, anthropologically speaking, to "participant observers" such as Lorenzo Carcaterra (whose fact-based novel inspired the movie Sleepers) and Joe D. Pistone, on whose autobiography Donnie Brasco is based.

Mafia movies also suggest that camaraderie is, at best, circumstantial, if not bordering on the hypocritical. It is an ambivalent, multiple-edged tool to legitimize unjustified killings for whatever purposes, be it moving up the ladder, testing the loyalty of new recruits. Yet camaraderie holds no meaning against the powers that be ("to be 'sent for' means you come in alive, you come out dead, and it is your best friend who did it").

Yet there seems to be no two ways possible about it, once you're accepted as one of the "family". And it is precisely this dilemma that rankled FBI Special Agent Joe D. Pistone (Johnny Depp) who went undercover and infiltrated the New York City mob in the late 1970s.

Pistone's initial cover is foolproof. Disguised as smalltime jewelry thief Donnie Brasco, he befriends an aging, weatherbeaten, smalltime enforcer named Benjamin "Lefty" Ruggiero (Al Pacino). With little hope of climbing up the power ladder, Lefty sees the perfect opportunity in taking Donnie under his wing and improving his standing with the local boss, Sonny Black (an impressive Michael Madsen in another tough guy role).

Being married to the mob for some three years eventually takes its toll as Donnie finds it increasingly harder to detach himself emotionally from the "family". At this point, the movie acquiesces to a light spray of dysfunctional family drama with Donnie's estranged wife, Maggie (Anne Heche), emulating Sissy Spacek's performance in JFK as the frustrated wife.

Brit factor

Move over, Coppola, Scorcese, Brian de Palma. The Brits have come to town. When this eloquent, nonchalantly realistic mafia movie blazed onto the scene bearing British director Mike Newell's name (Four Weddings and a Funeral), it only buttressed the fact that the Brits are doing what Hollywood is not doing -- namely relying on character and scripts rather than special effects.

Think Anthony Minghella with The English Patient, Jim Sheridan with In the Name of The Father, Neil Jordan with The Crying Game.

From the remarkably tight focus and better-than-average dialog (courtesy of Quiz Show's screenwriter Paul Attanasio) down to the picture-perfect production design, Donnie Brasco's real virtue lies in its consistent low-keyness, potent proof that a movie doesn't need mega-ton explosions or bloody visuals to make a point. Newell also proves himself a deft hand with actors, milking the best out of both Pacino and Depp.

There are some grisly moments, naturally, but they are not gratuitous. Despite one violent man-battering scene, the rest are handled with minimalist savoir faire. After all, you don't really want to see Donnie chopping up the remains of a fellow mobster in graphic detail, right?

Some viewers may despair over the absence of highs or lows in the level of action. Yet, if there is any real problem with the story, it is logic. Given the typically grandiose depictions of the mafia as a security-obsessed stronghold, you'd think Sonny Black would have checked out Donnie's background first. Donnie's entree seems too easy to merit conviction, especially as the one who "vouches" for him is a nobody in a highly hierarchical and paranoid power structure.

'Instincts'

But the mafia on scrutiny here consists only of street-wise petty thieves who do the big bosses' dirty works and whose survival depends on getting "upped" (promoted) by the Godfathers -- "spokes in a wheel" as described by Lefty. Maybe that explains why instead of brains, they have brawn, and instead of delving into research, they rely on "instincts".

Yet it is precisely these "instincts" that draw Lefty and Donnie together. In no time, the mentor/protegee relationship develops into a trusting father/son bond of sorts -- Hollywood's favorite kind of screen relationship and an emblem for "emotional depth".

At first, the idea of Al Pacino back on his natural territory sounds too good to be true. While his recent foray into other genres has been fairly successful, moviegoers want their stars to stick to their knitting.

But Al Pacino in a powerless mafia role? At first he plays the typical fast-talking, showy pedant, churning out macho homilies such as "keep your nose clean, follow the rules, one day you'll become a wise guy", but he knows where to draw the line. In other words, he is not Michael Corleone.

Lefty needs Donnie, Al Pacino needs Johnny Depp. As the older man shrinks into the background, debilitated by apathy and bitterness ("30 years of humping, for what?"), the tragedy is stark: not only will the relationship with Donnie cost Lefty his life, but Depp also steals Pacino's light.

Donnie Brasco definitively marks Depp's coming of age, from a cynical youth to an elegant and mature performer. The young agent's confounding dilemma is ceaselessly mapped on Depp's expressive face, his tension so apparent yet simultaneously kept in check at the same time. Not once does he overact.

At the end of the day, another mob outfit unravels from within, and it's pretty much a day of "business as usual" until another "plant" scores big for the self-glorifying, hardly grateful Feds, and debases himself in the process. It is the quintessential American story.