La critique de James Berardinelli (2)
                                                                                   
Perhaps the most impressive thing that Newell has done with Donnie Brasco is to cull an atypically low-key and introspective performance from Al Pacino, an actor known for manic, scenery-chewing efforts. Lefty is a world-weary hit man with 26 kills under his belt and little to show for it. "30 years, I'm bustin' my hump... for what?" he laments when he is passed over for promotion within the mob. His dream is to buy a boat and sail far away from civilization, but he doesn't have the money or the gumption to chase that golden fantasy. Pacino presents Lefty as a tragic, and at times pathetic, character who earns our pity and understanding, if not our sympathy. There's little hint of Michael Corleone here -- Lefty is an impotent doubter who knows how it will all end.
                                                                                         
While not on Pacino's level, Johnny Depp is competent as the title character, a man who loses his perspective as he becomes seduced by the mobster's lifestyle. Depp lets us see the conflict within Joe as his friendship with Lefty grows into something real and as his wife and children become little more than distant images. Near the beginning of Donnie Brasco, Joe attempts to prevent a hit; by the end, he comes perilously close to taking part. If there are times when Joe's character doesn't seem whole, the blame lies more with the script's failure to provide the needed background or motivation than with Depp's performance.