The film will reveal the relationship of a father who lived and died by the mob code and a son who, while brought up to lead a life of crime, chose to leave that world behind and redeem himself and the Gotti name. Never before has there been such an inside look at the Gotti family and their world of danger, betrayal and redemption. John Gotti was head of the Gambino crime family, which in its time was the largest and most powerful crime organization in the country. Known as the “Dapper Don,” John Gotti’s flamboyant style and outspoken personality made him one of the most famous mobsters of the 20th century and he ruled the underworld until he died from cancer in 2002 while serving a life sentence. In 1988, at the age of 24, Gotti Jr. became a “made man,” and was officially inducted into the Mafia, making him the heir-apparent to head the Gambino crime family and follow in his father’s footsteps. But in 1999, Gotti Jr. paid a now-famous last visit to his imprisoned and dying father to tell him he was ending his life of crime and getting out of the family business. During the years that followed his father’s death, Gotti Jr. had a long legal battle ahead of him and served three jail sentences, totaling approximately nine years, for a variety of charges. Gotti Jr. was finally released from prison in December 2009.

 

 

Review:

 

Clement Spoctor – 

Well, where to begin. A biopic directed by Kevin Connolly, about John Gotti, a real-life Godfather from New York who seemed to have had a clear and simple approach to a rather dangerous and exciting life. It should make for a great film.

This is not even a good film. Five minutes into the first act I was already confused. The narrative structure style forces you to keep up with different timelines of subplots which at times overlay the main plot, but completely new subplots will just pop up out of nowhere in order to continue driving the main plot. You see that previous sentence? It is like that. A long, boring, confusing drag of a story that would’ve been just as exciting if read on Wikipedia.

However, it does contain some good aesthetics. Some of the camera work exquisite and the colours weren’t bad at all, which is a compliment to Connolly and some of his production. The acting isn’t anything to write home about, lead John Travolta delivers a passing performance as one would expect, but only as John Gotti, and not as John Gotti. Though his ultimate failure in this film was his decision to take the role. The music is not half bad either, I thought, though there is one scene which has eerily similar music to a previous film Travolta had a lead in and you would swear you’re actually seeing an old, and alive, Vincent Vega.

The film starts and ends with Travolta as Gotti speaking to the camera. It felt to me like Michael Scott directed it and insisted they do it like one his own talking heads if he found himself staring over New York City at night and thought he was gangster.

This was not a story of a man who lived in this world. No real life, with a story worth making a Hollywood film for, is that uninterest ng. But who am I right.

 

Rating: 2/10