Actually, she played the part perfectly! She played a wife who was losing her husband because he was undercover for five years. Yes, in real life, Donnie Brasco was undercover for five years. It was ruining their marriage and he was ruining his relationship with his kids as well because of this job.
The magic they once had was evaporating because of his job. He was dedicated to getting some of the worst scumbags off the street and in prison where they belonged and it almost cost him his marriage in real life. In the movie, they get divorced.

I felt the same way about her when I watched this movie a bunch of times back in the day. Just something about her didnt feel right. Anne freaking Heche? I was used to my mob movies with authentic New Yorkers and Anne Heche was so far from that. Her image at the time, I don't know. There was something just wrong with her being there.
But as I watch when I'm older, she actually did a good job. Her accent wasn't bad, much better than that disaster show of an in and out accent, complete caricature of a New York house wife Lawerence did in American Hustle and actually got nominated for an Oscar for.
Heche didn't play her role as a caricature like Lawerence did. Her crying scenes were believable. I felt her anger, frustration, nagging, etc was actually portrayed rather well in this movie.
I guess maybe because I have forgotten all about her and don't really care to have an opinion about her anymore, I was able to judge her acting on its own and she did good.
But I can still agree that something about her presence in the film itself felt off.

I thought she was fine.
As for chemistry between her and Depp, I thought there was, as in an uneasy tension between the two - which is precisely what their relationship called for.
The female mind is, after all solely tuned to being self-serving - rjfme

I've always liked Anne Heche, if I forget she hits it both ways. She has a nice little body and nice breasts. I thought she was a decent match with Depp. Who would you expect- Scarlett Johannsen or Angelina Jolie? FBI agents and mob soldiers rarely have beautiful wives.

I concur not based on this particular performance but that I can't stand the woman so that anything she is in is a distraction.

usually whoever is up and rising star at the time, and her star was rising so she was cast in a lot of movies. this happened to be one of them. its all timing.. agreed, she wasn't anything special..

I thought she was great in this movie.
And there wasn't really meant to be much chemistry, their marriage was going to hell.

I keep reading in this forum, among others, about movies where the 2 leading stars ( usually male and female ) had no chemistry. The dialogue for any 'couple' that shows no chemistry, is because the lack of it in the script?

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There was no problem with her performance. And how much chemistry is she supposed to show when she's portraying one half of an estranged couple?

To me she didn't ruin the movie.She gave a decnt performance.She wasn't bad and she wasn't outstanding.

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I don't see any problems in her performance whatsoever. No chemistry between her and Depp? Well, first off, this isn't a love story and their relationship as well as her character was merely a subplot (at best - you could argue that their relationship was just a device to show how dedicated Joe is and how he slowly turns into a gangster himself).
Secondly, their marriage was failing, right? So, "no chemistry" helps. And she "looked lost" because that's what her character was: Left alone with her kids and problems because her husband is never at home, doesn't keep promises and slowly turns into a schizophrenic. You'd be lost, too.

i think the zero chemistry helped with the 'this isn't working we need counceling' idea.
But this is one of those movies where the wife has such a small part that there's no time for us to care about her.

She was popular at the time or, rather, well known because of her relationship with Ellen Degeneres. Lesbian relationships weren't so public back then, even in the entertainment business. I think that she was a curiosity due to her very public personal life, not her acting prowess. I, personally, had never heard of her until she showed up along side Ellen.