Johnny Depp: 5 Awesome Performances & 5 That Sucked

5 That Were Awesome...

5. Joseph Pistone/Donnie Brasco - Donnie Brasco (1997)

Donnie Brasco Johnny Depp
TriStar Pictures

Well before he started putting eye-make up on or adding silly wigs and declaring himself a chameleon, a young Depp did some of his finest, most subtle work in the tense, thrilling Donnie Brasco.

He may have profited from a stunning script and career high work from Al Pacino, but Depp's performance is just as worthy of note and celebration. As undercover FBI agent Joseph Pistone, he's a picture of conflict, drawn towards the irresistible criminal life he's trying to bring down from within and wrought by tensions in his marriage caused by his job.

And as Donnie Brasco he's a cool, charismatic mob brat, upwardly mobile, never as overtly violent as Di Caprio's Billy in The Departed, but it feels like he's closer to being seduced. It all works wonderfully without the usually ostentatious flourishes you'd come to expect from later Depp work, and it's a true joy to watch him opposite Pacino.

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Contributor
Contributor

NCTJ-qualified journalist. Most definitely not a racing driver. Drink too much tea; eat too much peanut butter; watch too much TV. Sadly only the latter paying off so far. A mix of wise-old man in a young man's body with a child-like wonder about him and a great otherworldly sensibility.