Donnie Brasco : The weakness of biographic movies

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

How, exactly, would a clichd 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"

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.

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

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?

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.