I know people who know Joe Pistone (he was a Paterson boy) and he was able to get them bit parts in this movie. An FBI agent, Pistone masqueraded as jewel thief "Donnie Brasco" and was able to successfully infiltrate the Bonanno Crime Family of NY and gather extensive information regarding its members and their nefarious, often murderous, activities. I've always admired Johnny Depp (name me another A-list male actor with the guts to star in an independent movie as a Cuban transvestite) and he is able here to flawlessly convey the tensions and divided loyalties of a Government agent operating under an assumed identity (side note: my bit-player friends had some drinks with Depp and co-star Bruno Kirby and later told me that they were both down-to-earth regular guys). The real revelation here, however, is Al Pacino. Just when I forget why he's considered one of the greatest actors in America, I see him in something like this and I'm in awe once again at the enormous potency of his thespian gifts and his extensive range. Consider that in this and "The Godfather" he is playing mobster roles, but how vastly different they are! In "The Godfather" he is the powerful and reptilian leader whose influence stretches across the globe, and whose cold-bloodedness extends even to members of his actual family. In "Donnie Brasco", he is an inarticulate and brutal thug; thwarted and frustrated at every rocky stage of his life, and yet with a strange, prosaic dignity. Although playing different ends of the underworld spectrum, he excells in both. Again, this is the mark, not of the good actor, but the excellent actor.