UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Thursday, March 6, 1997
5
Brasco defies mob genre
Audience can relate to film's characters
By Jeff Ruby
Kansan staff writer
Donnie Brasco (Johnny Depp) walks in Brooklyn, N.Y., with his Mafioso,
Lefty (Al Pacino), in the Mfa film, *Donnie Brasco*.
CONTRIBUTED ART
In the dubious distinction of most overdone cinema genres, mobster movies place second only to war films. Do we really need another movie about street-tough wise guys?
Apparently so. Donnie Brasco, which examines the concept of betrayal, proves that there are endless themes to explore in any genre, no matter how treaded the terrain.
Try to block out of your mind the images of Mafa glamour and excess that classics such as The Godfather beat into you like a lead pipe in the kneecaps. Mike Newell's Donnie Brasco shows gangsters who are struggling to make ends meet. These likable, small-time thugs are so desperate for moolah that they break into parking meters for change to pay off their boss.
Johnny Depp stars as Joe Pistone, an FBI agent who adopts the persona of Donnie Brasco. As Brasco, he pretends to be a small-time jewel thief to infiltrate a segment of the Brooklyn Mafia. He immediately gets noticed by Lefty (Al Pacino), a pathetic Mafioso with a heart of gold.
Lefty, who has no respect for his own son, takes Brasco under his wing. By vouching for the newcomer, the overly trusting Lefty ties his own destiny to Donnie's. If the mob finds out that the old-timer's new protege is a Fed, Lefty's life wouldn't be worth a nickel.
Next thing we know, Brasco is knee deep in the bloody exploits of Lefty's group of New York hoodlums. Meanwhile, Brasco grows attached to his mentor and is tortured at the thought of eventually turning against him.
REVIEW
Pistone's new life as Brasco forces him to be absent from his home for weeks at a time, and his caring family isn't too thrilled — particularly when Brasco's harsh disposition seems to overpower Pistone's personality.
The main strength of Donnie Brasco comes from the fact that the audience should have no trouble relating to its characters. We couldn't possibly imagine waking up with a horse's head in our bed, a la The Godfather. But this film shows regular guys goofing around on the tennis court and impishly burying each other in the sand on the beach.
Depp delivers his best performance to date. He always has been an underrated actor in offbeat roles, from What's Eating Gilbert Grape? to Ed Wood. But now he enters the big leagues with a striking bit of acting.
But Pacino steals the show, as he
always seems to do, and the veteran actor shows he can play low-key roles. We've grown accustomed to seeing him in flashy, over-the-top roles in recent films such as Heat and Scent of a Woman. The sadness and frustration of his character have a way of jumping right off the screen into our hearts. We can tell Left doesn't like bloodshed and we genuinely worry about him in every scene.
Donnie Brasco's 1978 Brooklyn and South Florida settings are authentic right down to the discos, wide collars and huge glasses no 1997 wise guy would be caught dead in.
Director Mike Newell has added an interesting character study to the overflowing mob movie genre. After 1990's Goodfellas, Martin Scorsese's quintessential Mafia film, audiences were certain that there was no reason to make another movie about the often-explored Mafia themes.
Donnie Brusco proved us all wrong.
Semiautomatic weapon use on rise
By Sean Demory Kansan staff reporter
Last week's bank-robbery-turned shootout in Los Angeles, involving military-style semiautomatic weapons, illustrates a rising trend; the use of semiautomatic weapons in crime.
According to a Los Angeles Times article, the two robbers were carrying either AK-47 or SKS assault rifles.
The 1994 Assault Weapons Ban,
which made it illegal to import or transfer 19 types of assault weapons has not proven as effective as hoped.
Legislation before the Kansas Legislature that will allow citizens to carry concealed firearms has been presented as a defensive measure against armed crime.
Bill Arnold, associate professor of sociology, said, "I'm just afraid that the number of accidents that happen will offset the number of people who
successfully defend themselves." Arnold said.
Larry Scott, public information officer for the Kansas City field division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, said, "The civilian version of the SKS assault rifle, for instance, is available through sporting goods stores or even through the newspaper," Scott said, noting an classified advertisement in Tuesday's Kansas City Star.
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