Director Mike Newell has consistently thrown audiences with his choices, going from the comedy of "Four Weddings and a Funeral" to "Donnie Brasco" to the outer reaches of suburbia with the flight controller feature "Pushing Tin". Although "Weddings" is still the most popular, "Brasco" will remain the most well-thought of, as the performances and writing are both intense and powerful.

Based on the memoirs of Joe Pistone, Johnny Depp stars as Donnie Brasco, an undercover cop that infiltrates the mafia. The story opens with Johnny running into Lefty(Al Pacino), and talking his way out of a problem when he insults the older gentleman. Soon enough, the two become friends - Lefty oversees Donnie and becomes the bridge for him to get connected. We're introduced to the rest of the gang, including the boss that Lefty reports to, played well by Michael Madsen, doing the same kind of performance he does well in films like "Species".

The most remarkable performance in the film is Pacino as Lefty. He takes the material and creates a character all the way down to the subtle gestures. Depp is good as well, although this isn't my favorite performance of his. Maybe this isn't Pacino's best performance either, but it's still a pretty darn impressive one. In fact, the only performance that I really didn't care for in this film is Anne Heche, as Donnie's wife. Her performances have been so-so, but this one seems out of place and off in the film.

As the film goes on, Donnie becomes torn between his family and his loyalty to Lefty and the rest of the group. The relationship between these two and the rest of the characters in the film are well-done and interesting to watch play out. A well done score by Patrick Doyle and good cinematography add to the already strong rest of the picture. Aside from a few minor flaws, "Donnie Brasco" is a strong picture from Newell, who does suprisingly good work here away from his usual home in comedy. Maybe not the best in the genre, but certainly well above average.

The DVD

VIDEO: Although I haven't seen Tristar's original release of "Donnie Brasco", I'd be willing to guess that like most of their re-releases this is the same presentation as the first release. With few exceptions, this is a fantastic presentation in the film's original 2.35:1 aspect ratio. There are times when the movie looks a tad bit soft, but these are pretty minor as the majority of the film looks very nicely defined, with pleasing sharpness and detail. Only a couple of the the indoor scenes, some of which are smoky, seem a little bit on the murky side.

I didn't find any pixelation to the image, and the print used is in very clean condition with no flaws that I spotted. The only thing that I noticed was some shimmering that appeared now and then, but this didn't prove to be a distraction. Colors aren't too bold or vibrant, but this is pretty much intentional, as the tone of the film is pretty dark as well.

Aside from a few very minor issues, this is a very solid presentation; all the more impressive that it was one of the early DVDs that the studio released.

SOUND: The film is presented here in Dolby Digital 5.0; the majority of the movie is completely dialogue-driven, which doesn't lend itself to a very agressive audio experience with the exception of the music, which sounds fantastic here. Surrounds come into play in a very minor role, occasionally contributing to the musical score, but not doing a whole lot else. Patrick Doyle's musical score is subtle and haunting, coming through very cleanly. Dialogue, which remains the focus here, sounds clear and well-recorded.

MENUS: As with Tristar's recent edition of "Legends Of The Fall", they have also done a nice job with the menus on this re-release, with a subtly animated main menu that includes the score in the background and images from the film. Sub-menus are not animated, but are easily navigated and serve as a good introduction to the film.

EXTRAS:

Commentary: This is a commentary by director Mike Newell. The comentary starts with Newell, in his soft, subtle voice introducing himself. At this point, the viewer may be weary as it doesn't sound as if Newell will provide much of an energetic commentary track, but this quickly changes. As the movie starts, Newell begins to discuss the details of the story and production with intensity, as he talks about the "realities" to the story, as well.

The track is a good mix of analysis and talk about the story and characters by the directors to the technical details of the production. Newell goes to a good point with the story analysis, telling us about more layers than simply what we're seeing on-screen, and not extending this discussion too long before moving on. He even mentions one scene that he definitely doesn't like included in the film. There are some additional pauses as the commentary goes onwards, but they're definitely not long enough to the point where we forget we're listening to a commentary track. Maybe this isn't the best commentary I've heard recently, but I found Newell's comments to be insightful and entertaining, and the track is worth a listen.

Donnie Brasco: Out From The Shadows: This is a new featurette that details the long history of the making of "Donnie Brasco", and the real-life story behind the movie. Interviews with screenwriter Paul Attanasio("Disclosure"), Newell, Joe Pistone and others talk about how each of the key players became involved. Newell talks further about the research that he did to learn more about the details of mob life as well as details considered in casting the film. This is a very well-done new documentary - it doesn't full out the time with clips from the movie, but uses them appropriately to illustrate details that come up in the interviews, which are especially interesting to listen to. Running time is about 23 minutes.

Deleted Scenes: After a brief introduction by Newell, we get 5 deleted scenes, able to be selected one-by-one. Scenes are presented full-frame and in decent, but watchable condition. Commentary by Newell is very interesting to listen to as he goes through the details about why the scenes were cut out and on the other side, his feelings about the scene and its absence from the picture.

Original Featurette: The original promotional featurette, which is above average for a shorter featurette, offering interviews and some behind-the-scenes footage. About 7 minutes.

Trailers: Trailers for "Donnie Brasco", "The Professional", "The Devil's Own" and "The Juror".

Photo Gallery: A moving photo gallery of production photos that has various audio clips from the movie playing in the background. Plays for about 3 minutes.

Also: The usual Tristar talent files and the isolated score (Dolby Digital 5.0).

Final Thoughts: Tristar really does a fine job here, continuing their long list of bringing back early, basic titles for a special re-release. The film itself is also quite good, and the package as a whole is recommended.