Gotti

Rating:
Summary: Gotti makes a movie about himself.
Review: A truly awful movie which changes gangster John Gotti to Holy John with a pathetic, outrageous script which was accepted and, reportedly, partially rewritten by Gotti's son "Junior", in order to whitewash his Don Daddy. I'm ready to believe that "Junior" actually wrote parts of the script because even though Hollywood lives on lies, even the most hypocritical people in there are not so primitive as to actually create a movie consisting *only* of hundreds of blatant lies, small and big, and try to pass it as "a true story". There is, quite literally, not a shred of truth in this film. Yes, as 100% fiction is might be entertaining enough for perhaps even three stars, but I cannot and will not accept it as the "truth" it tries to present itself as. Therefore, it gets one star - one too many!

Some of the lies that this movie consists of:

The cover of Time carried Gotti painted by Andy Warhol. Apparently Gotti prefers baroque photos to pop art - so this movie shows a *photo* of Gotti on Time's cover.

Paul Castellano was not a repulsive "whale" with a constant nasty look on his face. He was tall, not overweight, and actually polite and sophisticated for a gangster (possibly because he considered himself a "clean" businessman, which is what helped Gotti killed him when he felt threatened by Paul). He had no problems constructing a sentence, either (unlike Gotti...).

Gotti abused and assaulted Piecyk first. Piecyk didn't look or act like a boorish bald copy of Fred Flintstone (this movie gives him this look to make him more repulsive to the viewer).

One of the biggest lies: the movie shows the aftermath of the death of Gotti's son it this way: Gotti says that "it was just an accident", forbids any sort of revenge on the man who ran over his son, and then angry Sammy Gravano goes and kills the "offender" himself, against the order. Yeahhhhh... right. In reality, Gotti ordered the "offending" neighbor to be kidnapped and killed with a chainsaw. He left the city for the day of the murder to have an alibi. His wife knew about it, too. Sammy Gravano didn't even know that the man was to die.

Sammy Gravano was not "born in a rich family".

Sammy Gravano was the *strongest* "link" in the "arrested chain". In fact, apart from Gotti himself, he was the only man that the FBI *never* expected to defect. Sammy was shaken when he heard the tapes on which Gotti abused him and told lies about him, but even then he didn't decide to defect. He only made the decision when he learned that Gotti was planning to frame his for everything *he* was accused of, and more - to walk out free, leaving Sammy in jail. Originally, Sammy wanted to take the "traditional" revenge and kill Gotti in jail, but then realized that Gotti's family would then murder his wife and children; that's why he decided to go for Witness Protection. Gotti tried to get Sammy's family after that, anyway, but they were under protection already.

Sammy's family did not disown him. They had a row after his decision but all that quickly ended and after the trial they all left together for Arizona.

Gotti ordered Sammy's kin and DiBernardo to die. Sammy opposed both ideas but reluctantly accepted them when the boss gave the orders.

Gotti was not the "idol" of the jury - Sammy Gravano simply bought one of the members of the jury for 60 thousand, to acquit his boss.

Gotti's vocabulary is even smaller than that of the character Armand Assante plays (the character certainly isn't Gotti - it's, as I said, "Holy John"). He mostly uses four-letter words. His actual IQ is classified as normal, not as "genius".

Gotti gave the homeless man the "whole" 50 dollars - the movie makes him change his decision and give a hundred. This single little lie already shows you the whole scheme that the makers prepared.

There's one good thing about this movie - William Forsythe. Although he was probably ordered to make Sammy Gravano act, sound and seem nasty, he at least *looks* not much unlike Sammy. I was amazed that "Junior" actually agreed to have Sammy's character look like that instead of doing what he did with Paul Castellano and making Sammy e.g. a fat bald midget with one eye and hare lip... By the way, ever wondered why Quinn took a role in this movie? Here's a hint: he was on Gotti's trial as a supporter, too. For a movie closer to the truth, see "Witness to the Mob", with Tom Sizemore as Gotti...

Rating:
Summary: Disgraceful... only for crime supporters.
Review: A truly disgusting flick. I heard that Gotti's son "influenced" its makers to make his dad look like a saint, and I feel inclined to believe it. Can you say "whitewashing"? This film is full of lies (notably, showing Sammy Gravano in precisely the way Gotti had tried to when he planned to sacrifice Sammy and for his own crimes in court, which is the only reason Sammy was forced to defect; or blaming Sammy for the Favaro murder), aimed at showing Gotti as a folk hero - together with accompanying music and cheers. It's a good thing the film makers didn't show Gotti's infamous "free July 4th parties", paid for with drug and death money. But an even worse thing, a true *crime* for a movie, is the thin script and horrible acting - or lack of it. Only Forsythe tries to save the day, but the rest of actors - mainly Assante and Quinn - are painfully hammy. This goes even *beyond* the way the wiseguys actually behave. It's no surprise that many people liked the movie, though - after all, bandits like Gotti still have a lot of support, going mainly from their likes and from clueless "rebelious" teens.

Rating:
Summary: Exceptional Made-For-TV Movie
Review: Although it is tempting to see this movie in the light of movies like "Goodfellas" it really stands on its own. Director Robert Harmon keeps the pace going with no "slice of life" extenders or heavy soundtrack made up of pop and R & B recordings. The actors are fired up and move the story.
Armand Assante delivers a powerful portrayal of this underworld "original", a media-friendly crime figure, whose star imploded only after the government applied technology to the solution: interestingly, it seems that Gotti's high profile did not do him in - he was "bugged" at his club ventilating about his underboss.
Although Assante gives an all-out yet *measured* performance, actually adding philosphical nuance, some of his co-stars over-act, specifically William Forsythe as Sammy Gravano and Anthony Quinn as Neil Dellacroce. This doesn't mean that their work isn't at times compelling.
Al Waxman as Bruce Cutler is excellent, however, the reported exceeding by Cutler of lawyer-client "parameters" (a word used by Assante throughout the movie) is not addressed. Alberta Watson as Victoria Gotti should have been given more screen time. The great character actor Frank Vincent, as "B.D.", is once again successful. It appears that the Director let him do his understated thing.

Rating:
Summary: Exceptional Made-For-TV Movie
Review: Although it is tempting to see this movie in the light of movies like "Goodfellas" it really stands on its own. Director Robert Harmon keeps the pace going with no "slice of life" extenders or heavy soundtrack made up of pop and R & B recordings. The actors are fired up and move the story.
Armand Assante delivers a powerful portrayal of this underworld "original", a media-friendly crime figure, whose star imploded only after the government applied technology to the solution: interestingly, it seems that Gotti's high profile did not do him in - he was "bugged" at his club ventilating about his underboss.
Although Assante gives an all-out yet *measured* performance, actually adding philosphical nuance, some of his co-stars over-act, specifically William Forsythe as Sammy Gravano and Anthony Quinn as Neil Dellacroce. This doesn't mean that their work isn't at times compelling.
Al Waxman as Bruce Cutler is excellent, however, the reported exceeding by Cutler of lawyer-client "parameters" (a word used by Assante throughout the movie) is not addressed. Alberta Watson as Victoria Gotti should have been given more screen time. The great character actor Frank Vincent, as "B.D.", is once again successful. It appears that the Director let him do his understated thing.

Rating:
Summary: entertaining fiction
Review: Armand Assante is effective, William Forsyth doesn't quite match the part physically but still entertains, Anthony Quinn is almost dead on as Neil Dellacroce, and Frank Vincent once again shines. The pace is crisp, the directing edgy and the production from a technical standpoint is done very well. If you're looking for an engaging mafia movie, you'll enjoy "Gotti" immensely.
But if you want a biopic of John Gotti, look elsewhere. This movie would best be described as "a movie inspired by the events of" or "based loosely on" the life of John Gotti.
Factual errors are too numerous to count. The murder of neighbor John Favara is pure fiction; so is Sammy Gravano's execution of his brother-in-law, the meeting between Gotti and Gravano, and the circumstances leading up to Angelo Ruggiero's death (Gotti never visited him in the hospital, much less fed him a cannoli by hand). Still, the characterizations were mostly on the mark. I was, though, profoundly disappointed with the choice for Bruce Cutler, and thought the Castellano actor was a bit too gruff for someone known as the businessman gangster.
If you can manage to put aside the details of the Gotti story and watch this movie for escapism, it's worth the time.

Rating:
Summary: "Gotti" Review
Review: As we all know by the other reviews, this movie isn't 100% accurate. Other than that, it was a great movie! You can find it for $5 now, even! It's well worth the watch, plus this is a movie all mafia-fans should have in their collection! I would recommend buying this one!

Rating:
Summary: Somewhat disappointing, but it had its moments
Review: Being a big fan of mafia and crime movies, I wasn't expecting Goodfellas. But I gave it a shot, and thought it was alright, and not as bad as some reviews said it was. I wish, though, that story of John Gotti could be shown through another film, with a different director, better acting, and (of course) a better portrayal of John Gotti and the Gambino crime family. What I did like about this movie was the ending, the way they showed Sammy testifying against John and Franky. I also liked the speech at the ending by Gotti. Overall, don't expect another Goodfellas, but at least give it a try.

Rating:
Summary: Had low expectations and was pleased!
Review: Being a fan of Armand Assanti, he tends to get stuck with odd roles and type-cast as a spanish only person,also being a fan of mob movies, I borrowed this movie from my son. I was very surprised! Well acted and very entertaining! If you like The Sopranos, 4 cast members are in this movie. Ok, this is Hollywood. They have to make the story better than reality and they sure did. If you are a fan of Mob movies you will love this one! ya Gotti trust me!

Rating:
Summary: fun film; bad history
Review: Chronologically, this film does a fine job of portraying events in the life of John Gotti. As a biography, however, it is awful. Gotti, by any objective measure an immoral thug who brought about his own demise, is portrayed in the film as a great guy around whom bad things are done by others. Gotti, not Gravano, was responsible for the murder of the neighbor who accidentally killed his son. To suggest, as the film does, that he was ignorant of the jury-tampering on his behalf that occurred during one of his trials is equally absurd. In short, respect Gotti or not, the real man is nothing like what is portrayed in the HBO film.

Rating:
Summary: Gotti, Too Interesting to make things up
Review: Entertaining? Yes, but way off base. If you read, read Underboss, or The Rise and Fall of the Gambino Crime Family. If you read these books, and then watch Gotti, you will see how underdeveloped this movie is. You don't need to embelish to man a man like Gotti seem interesting.