Hollywood Watch

Tin Cup deals with the amorous and golfing escapades of this gifted but impulsive golfer. Little does he know that Molly is the girlfriend of his golfing rival David Simms (Don Johnson) who has the gal to offer him a job as his caddie. But when he does, the love triangle is alive and kicking.

Acting from the heart has become a way of life with Roy and that makes him fumble somewhere between delusion and denial but when he meets Molly it’s different. Among other things, he asks her for a semi-platonic kiss. The chemistry between the two is great and Roy’s supporters make their presence felt, especially his caddie Romeo (Cheech Marin). John Norville and Ron Shelton have put together a workable screenplay. The climax is Hollywood formula but despite that, Tin Cup is full of warmth, camaraderie and humour.

Donnie Brasco: Sterling

Mike Newell’s Donnie Brasco is a hard-hitting, thought-provoking drama on the Mafia as seen through one of its foot soldiers, Lefty Ruggiero (Al Pacino). But it is also about the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) infiltrating it. And how?

Based on the memoirs of FBI agent Joe Pistone alias Donnie Brasco (Johny Depp), who broke into that underworld set-up in the early 1970s, it begins with Ruggiero befriending Brasco as one of his protegees. But it is a long game and one with no scruples, no sympathy and no feelings. It is also an intricate little game and director Newell has his viewers in a vice-like grip.

The screenplay by Paul Attanasio is revealing as it weaves its way around a handful of Mafia men. It may be heavy but at no point is it uninteresting. For Pacino, for whom the Mafia role is like being a home turf. Depp of Edward Scissorhands-fame can scarcely be recognised as Brasco but he underplays the part well. But it is the documentary nature of the film that makes it so authentic and explosive.