Donnie Brasco - Extended Cut (1997) ****

There had been plenty of gangster and undercover/informant cop films made prior to Donnie Brasco (1997), more than a few of which starred Al Pacino. Many of them are better than Donnie Brasco as well. I've never seen any of director Mike Newell's other films, nor do any them interest me in particular. But there is something about this film that places it firmly in the canon of top tier mob movies. 

I hadn't watched DB in just shy of fourteen years and it holds up very well, thanks in large part to the performances. Much like GoodFellas (1990) (my review here) there is a good deal of humor, quotable dialogue, and a few grisly scenes of violence throughout. Overall though, the mood is similar to another classic Pacino-starring 90s gangster picture, Brian De Palma's Carlito's Way (1993) (my review here), though it never quite reaches the same tragic, operatic heights of that film.

One thing is for sure, Donnie Brasco is no fugazi. Fuhgetaboutit.