MovieChat Forums > Donnie Brasco (1997) Discussion > The weakness of biographic movies

The weakness of biographic movies

posted 10 years ago by Josh_The_Third
8 replies | jump to latest

I think the need to stick to the biographic story sometimes hurts these type of movies.
I mean, you got a great story here, perfect characters, one of Pacino's best roles, and a long, well crafted buildup, but the last third of the movie doesn't deliver much. There's no sonny vs. lefty showdown or a solution to the lefty\donnie relationship.

Of course the ending has great value in the historic sense, but I think that, if the writers gave themselves more creative freedom, you could have had a much, much better ending. And this movie would've deserved it. I enjoyed it more than The Godfather, it's a bit like a modern godfather-style film for younger folks.

just my 2 cents

[–] puschit-1 10 years ago

How, exactly, would a clichéd showdown improve the ending!?

It wasn't perfect but if you doing biographic movies, then stick to the original roles and characters! Otherwise, once you've begun taking bigger freedoms, there is no reason to try to stick to the source, you could make your own movie then and call it a hommage or "inspired by" ...

[–] Josh_The_Third 10 years ago

first of all, It doesn't have to be cliche`d. There's definitely the danger of that, but the fact is many movies *do* resolve the main conflict very well.

about your second argument - you're right. I guess I'd prefer a "hommage" type thing.

still, it's a great movie.

[–] puschit-1 9 years ago

Well, you suggested a "sonny vs. lefty showdown", how much more clichéd could it possibly get?

[–] jonnypenn84 10 years ago

That's why I like movies better when they are titled "loosely based on true life events". It gives more creative opportunities. Still a great movie... but it could've used a lil extra imho. Not to mention that lots of the facts were already changed anyways. Why not just go the extra mile?

[–] millsey72 (10363) a year ago

I agree. A big weakness in this movie was the lack of racial diversity within the mob themselves. I rather see a mob movie loosely based on true life events

[–] JellyFish19 9 years ago

After the whole 150 minutes, the ending does feel anti-climactic, but hey, a biographic gangster movie can be done really well, like Goodfellas. I guess it all depends on the real story and director.

[–] Gd5150 (11771) a year ago

The end was good. It showed how all his work was utterly pointless. Pistone was an average nobody. He had to live his life like a shnook.

Blow although enjoyable, was a worse biopic as it was written to make the criminal look like the victim.

[–] daveyh (632) 9 months ago

I think they took enough liberties with this movie already, especially with the ending (and when I say "ending", I mean the final scene featuring both Joe/Donnie & Lefty).
In reality, both Joe and another undercover agent (might have been Richie , might have been someone else, it's been a while since I read the book) were told in advance that after the upcoming weekend, they were getting taken out of the program.
Consequently, both agents (Richie was every bit as competent and cunning as Joe, despite how the movie sometimes portrays him) spent the weekend being unusually nosey and asking questions that they'd normally avoid so as not to arouse suspicion - with them being out of it in a couple of days, there wouldn't be time for the people they'd infiltrated to even discuss their suspicions, never mind act on them, and so with nothing to lose they figured they may as well get as much information as they could (a) while they still could, and (b) while they no longer had to worry about seeming a bit too curious when asking questions.
Contrast that with the dramatic climax to Joe's tenure as Donnie in the movie. Like I said at the start of this post, I think they took enough liberties already