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GOTTI (2018)

Gotti poster

CAST
JOHN TRAVOLTA
WILLIAM DEMEO
STACY KEACH
CHRIS KERSON
MEGAN LEONARD
CHRIS MULKEY
KELLY PRESTON
SAL RENDINO
SPENCER ROCCO LOFRANCO
LEO ROSSI
PRUITT TAYLOR VINCE
ELLA BLEU TRAVOLTA

BASED ON THE BIOGRAPHY “SHADOW OF MY FATHER” BY
JOHN A. GOTTI

SCREENPLAY BY
LEM DOBBS
LEO ROSSI

PRODUCED BY
RANDALL EMMETT
MARC FIORE
MICHAEL FROCH
GEORGE FURLA

DIRECTED BY
KEVIN CONNOLLY

GENRE
BIOGRAPHY
CRIME
DRAMA

RATED
AUS:R
UK:15
USA:R

RUNNING TIME
105 MIN

 

 

Gotti image

A stale biopic filled with stereotype and uninspired filmmaking, Gotti also proves to be a disturbing example of mafia hero-worship almost equating to propaganda.

A major criticism towards mob films – in which the likes of The Godfather and Goodfellas reside – is that they glorify the criminals they portray. The flipside to that coin is that, yes, while there is entertainment value to be found in the portrayals of various Dons, capos and wise guys, so too is there a stern and stark reminder that not only does crime not pay, but it can also lead to an ice pick in the back of your neck.

Gotti, the long-delayed biopic of famous mafioso John Gotti, does not in anyway respect this reality check. Based upon the biography “Shadow of My Father” by John Gotti Jr., this Kevin Connolly (Entourage) directed movie fawns over its protagonists with the kind of fanboy zeal that is both troubling and icky. One would at least think that such affection for his subjects would at least result in an entertaining movie.

This 110-minute dirge is anything but, with its one lone saving grace found in John Travolta’s committed performance as infamous mobster John Gotti. Using the popular mobster movie tropes of narration and flashback, the film charts Gotti’s rise from foot soldier, to made-man, to mob-boss, and finally to cancer ridden prisoner. The bulk of the films time concentrates on Gotti’s reign during the late 70s to early 80s. Anyone expecting the kind of stellar period filmmaking that genre stalwarts Martin Scorsese (Mean Streets) and Brian DePalma (Carlito’s Way) bring to their movies will be disappointed, with even the go-to production design splurge of a wedding sequence feeling empty and hollow.

Those last few words can effectively describe Gotti in a nutshell. It’s not enough that Connolly’s presentation of the famed mafioso’s story is both cinematically dull and tedious in its storytelling. Gotti also disturbingly fawns over its subjects, interspersing real life footage of ignorant citizens declaring their love for the “Teflon Don” (so called as it took years for charges to stick). Coupled with ludicrous claims of ill-treatment by the equally deplorable Gotti Jr. (played with one-note dullness by baby faced Spencer Rocco Lafranco), it is clear that Gotti is a film meant to propagandise the Gotti legend rather than honestly portray the Gotti story.

Fortunately for the viewing public and the many real-life victims of Gotti’s murderous, criminal ways, Connolly is not yet as talented a filmmaker to pull off such a ludicrous feat.

 

*1/2

 

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