Gotti | |
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Directed by | Kevin Connolly |
Written by | |
Produced by |
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Starring | |
Cinematography | Michael Barrett |
Edited by | Jim Flynn |
Music by | |
Production companies |
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Distributed by |
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Release dates |
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Running time | 110 minutes [2] |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $10 million [3] |
Box office | $6.4 million [4] |
Gotti is a 2018 American biographical crime film about New York City mobster John Gotti, directed by Kevin Connolly and written by Lem Dobbs and Leo Rossi. It stars John Travolta as Gotti, alongside his real-life wife Kelly Preston as Gotti's wife Victoria in her penultimate film.
The film was announced in 2010, but it languished in development for several years with numerous directors and actors, including Barry Levinson and Al Pacino. Principal photography finally began in July 2016 in Cincinnati, Ohio and concluded in Brooklyn, New York in February 2017.
The film was originally set to be released in the United States on December 15, 2017, but Lionsgate, the slated distributor, sold the film back to its producers and studio, delaying its release. [5] On March 12, 2018, its new release date was announced for June 15, 2018 by SunRider Productions and Vertical Entertainment, after premiering at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival. [6]
Gotti underperformed both critically and commercially; it grossed just $6 million against a $10 million production budget and was universally lambasted by critics, who lamented the writing, aesthetics, and performances of most of the cast, although Travolta's performance and the film's use of makeup received some praise. [7] It is one of the few films to hold an approval rating of 0% on the website Rotten Tomatoes. [8] [9] [10] At the 39th Golden Raspberry Awards, the film was nominated for six Razzies, including Worst Picture and Worst Actor for Travolta.
Mob boss John Gotti addresses the audience, reflecting on his lengthy reign of crime in New York City. In 1973, Aniello "Neil" Dellacroce, underboss to the Gambino crime family, tasks Gotti, a young associate, with killing gangster James McBratney, who is believed to have kidnapped and murdered boss Carlo Gambino's nephew Emanuel. After executing McBratney at a bar, Gotti is identified as his killer in 1974 and sentenced to 4 years at Green Haven Correctional Facility the following year; due to the Gambino family's influence, however, he is released on "medical furloughs" both for appointments with the family's dentist and for conducting further criminal business, including another hit. Paroled in July 1977 after 2 years, he reunites with his wife Victoria and children at their new residence in Howard Beach, Queens, and becomes a "made man", immediately climbing the Mafia hierarchy to become a capo.
By 1979, Gotti operates out of the Bergin Hunt and Fish Club with his childhood friend Angelo Ruggiero. His oldest son John "Junior" Gotti enters the New York Military Academy, but aspires to join the Mafia. Despite Dellacroce's counsel and the assurances of fellow capo Frank DeCicco, Gotti mistrusts the Lucchese crime family's top underboss, Anthony Casso. On March 18, 1980, his 12-year-old middle son Frank is accidentally struck and killed by a car driven by John Favara, his next-door neighbor. Favara later disappears on July 28, and the only witness to his abduction, diner owner Leon Papon, is intimidated into silence.
By 1985, the Gambino family has come under increased scrutiny, and Gotti becomes convinced that family boss Paul Castellano is too frail to lead effectively. Junior instigates a bar brawl that results in a man's death, infuriating his father. Federal authorities release embarrassing tapes, caught on an FBI wiretap of Gambino family meetings, that reveal Gotti's involvement in labor racketeering. He avoids conviction when the case goes to trial, but prosecutor Diane Giacalone, assistant attorney for the Eastern District of New York, discloses that his close associate, Wilfred "Willy Boy" Johnson, has been a confidential informant for the FBI since 1966; he agrees to give him a reprieve for betraying the family, but does not object when Johnson is eventually murdered on August 29, 1988.
Dying of brain cancer, Dellacroce informs Gotti of Castellano's plans to reorganize the Gambino family and disband Gotti's crew due to his insubordination and helps him secure the approval of the Five Families to eliminate Castellano, who fails to attend Dellacroce's funeral two days after his death on December 2. On December 16, Castellano and his bodyguard Thomas Bilotti are gunned down outside Sparks Steak House in midtown Manhattan, and Gotti takes over the Gambino family, becoming "the real-life Godfather". Rival boss Vincent "The Chin" Gigante of the Genovese crime family plots with Casso to eliminate him, and on April 13, 1986, DeCicco is killed by a car bomb that Ruggiero believes was meant for Gotti. Casso survives an unsanctioned hit, tracking down and torturing the hitman, James Hydell, into revealing he was sent by Ruggiero. Gotti reconciles with Gigante before excommunicating Ruggiero from his crew to shield him from further retribution.
Escaping prosecution for the third time in 1987, Gotti is nicknamed "the Teflon Don" for being untouchable by the law. Junior is inducted into the Gambino family on Christmas Eve 1988 and marries his wife Kim in April 1990, while Ruggiero dies from terminal lung cancer in December 1989. On trial in 1992 for the fourth time, Gotti is charged with organizing Castellano's murder; underboss Salvatore "Sammy the Bull" Gravano testifies against him, and this time, Gotti is convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment without parole. Junior assumes control as rivals target the organization and several family members are killed, and is himself taken into custody on January 21, 1998. On February 5, 1999, he visits his now-ailing father at the United States Medical Center for Federal Prisoners in Springfield, Missouri, to inform him that he is considering a plea bargain.
After Gotti dies on June 10, 2002 from throat cancer, Junior chooses to abandon his criminal life for his own family's sake, and after five trials, he is finally released from prison in December 2009.
In September 2010, Fiore Films announced that it had secured the rights from Gotti Jr. to produce a film about his life. [11] The film, tentatively titled Gotti: In the Shadow of My Father, was to be directed by Barry Levinson, who eventually left the project. Nick Cassavetes and Joe Johnston were then also attached at different points to direct, as were Al Pacino, Lindsay Lohan, and Ben Foster to star in various roles. [12] Joe Pesci was cast as Angelo Ruggiero early in development and gained 30 pounds in order to properly portray him. After having his salary cut and being recast as Lucchese underboss Anthony Casso, he sued Fiore Films for $3 million; the case was settled out of court. [13] [14] Chazz Palminteri, who had played Paul Castellano in the TNT made-for-TV film Boss of Bosses , was also initially cast to reprise Gotti's predecessor. [15]
On September 8, 2015, it was announced that the project was moving forward with Kevin Connolly as director. [16] Emmett/Furla/Oasis Films, Fiore Films and Herrick Entertainment would be financing the film, with Lionsgate Premiere handling the domestic distribution rights. [16]
On July 27, 2016, the complete cast for the film was announced. It included Kelly Preston as Gotti's wife Victoria; Stacy Keach as Aniello Dellacroce, the underboss of the Gambino crime family who mentored Gotti; Pruitt Taylor Vince as Angelo Ruggiero, a deferential friend of Gotti; Spencer Lofranco as John Gotti Jr., Gotti's eldest son; William DeMeo as Sammy Gravano, Gotti's right-hand man who later became an FBI informant and helped them in bringing down Gotti; co-writer Leo Rossi as Bartholomew "Bobby" Boriello, Gotti's enforcer; Victor Gojcaj as Father Murphy, with Tyler Jon Olson and Megan Leonard. [17]
Principal photography on the film began in Cincinnati, Ohio, on July 25, 2016, with locations including Springfield Township. The locations were staged to resemble the setting of the film, New York City. [18] [19] Filming also took place on Jonfred Court in Finneytown, and Indian Hill. [19] [20] Filming was also done at Butler County Jail. [21]
The film's shooting was previously scheduled to take place in New York City, because of its setting there, but it was relocated to Cincinnati. One reason to relocate was Ohio's revised Motion Picture Tax Credit to benefit films' creators. [22] Filming for some scenes took place in Brooklyn on February 21, 2017, which concluded principal photography. [23]
The film was originally set to be released in a limited release and through video on demand on December 15, 2017, through Lionsgate Premiere. Producers began seeking a new distributor in order for the film to receive a wide theatrical release, as opposed to the original release it was initially intended to have, with Lionsgate selling the film back to the producers and studio. [24] [25] On March 12, 2018, Connolly announced that the film would be released on June 15, 2018. [26] On April 12, 2018, it was announced Vertical Entertainment was the film's new distributor. [27]
On April 25, 2018, it was announced that MoviePass Ventures, a subsidiary of MoviePass, acquired an equity stake in the film and will participate in the revenue generated from the film. [28] [29]
The film premiered at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival on May 15, 2018. [1]
Gotti grossed $4.3 million in the United States, and $1.8 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $6.1 million, against a production budget of $10 million. [30]
Gotti began its limited release in 503 theaters and was projected to make $1–2 million in its opening weekend. It made $105,000 from Thursday night previews at 350 theaters and a total of $1.7 million in its opening weekend, finishing 12th. [12] According to their own reports, MoviePass accounted for 40% of tickets sold, leading one independent studio head to tell Deadline Hollywood : "It used to be in distribution, we'd all gossip whether a studio was buying tickets to their own movie to goose their opening. But in the case of MoviePass, there's no secret: They're literally buying the tickets to their own movie!" [31] In its second weekend the film dropped 53% and made $812,000, finishing 12th. [32]
Gotti was not screened in advance for critics, [33] but the Cannes premiere was attended by reviewers from IndieWire and The Hollywood Reporter , who both gave the film negative reviews. [34] On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 0% based on 58 reviews, with an average rating of 2.2/10. The site's critical consensus simply reads, "Fuhgeddaboudit". [35] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 24 out of 100, based on reviews from 16 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". [36]
Jordan Mintzer of The Hollywood Reporter gave the film a negative review, writing: "it's not only that the film is pretty terrible: poorly written, devoid of tension, ridiculous in spots and just plain dull in others. But the fact that it mostly portrays John Gotti as a loving family man and altogether likable guy, and his son John Gotti Jr. as a victim of government persecution, may be a first in the history of the genre." [3] The New York Post 's Johnny Oleksinski called the film "the worst mob movie of all-time" and wrote, "the long-awaited biopic about the Gambino crime boss' rise from made man to top dog, took four directors, 44 producers and eight years to make. It shows. The finished product belongs in a cement bucket at the bottom of the river." [37] Writing for Rolling Stone , Peter Travers gave the film one out of four stars and said, "Insane testimonials from Gotti supporters at the end are as close as this [film] will ever get to good reviews." [38]
Nick Schager, writing for The Daily Beast , said that the film "validates the oft-heard criticism that mob movies invariably glorify their subjects", adding: "The film does its best to make sure Gotti comes off as a noble and ruthless warrior-leader who ... was good for the community because he only killed his own and kept a lid on neighborhood crime." He concluded: "'Listen to me, and listen to me good. You never gonna see another guy like me if you live to be five thousand,' Travolta's Teflon Don boasts in the final scene. With any luck, we'll never see another mob-movie misfire like this either." [39]
Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times was more positive in his review of the film, describing it as "an entertaining and well-acted but uneven B-movie." [40]
Observers were quick to note a large disparity on Rotten Tomatoes, between the audience approval score of 80% and the 0% critics' score during the film's opening weekend. [a] The audience score has since dropped 36 points to a score of 44%. [35]
On June 19, Dan Murrell of Screen Junkies noted that the disparity "made no sense" and suspected vote manipulation on behalf of the studio. [42] Accusations against the production studio and marketing team increased after the release of a marketing push suspected to be trying to hit back at the critics. The campaign proclaimed to consumers to ignore the "trolls behind a keyboard", [45] and "Audiences loved Gotti but critics don't want you to see it ... The question is why??? Trust the people and see it for yourself!" [b] Observers also noted the abnormally high number of reviews, 7000, compared to other films that did better at the box office that weekend, such as Incredibles 2 which logged 7600 reviews and grossed 105 times more than Gotti. [42] [44]
Rotten Tomatoes staff issued a statement stating they didn't find any evidence of tampering and that "All of the ratings and reviews were left by active accounts." [45] In June 2018, it was noted that 32 of the 54 written reviews were found to be from first-time reviewers on the site, who had also only left a review for Gotti itself, and 45 of the accounts were created the same month. [42] Many of the accounts also wrote a review for the praised American Animals , which along with Gotti are the only films to be owned by MoviePass through its company MoviePass Ventures, [42] [44] which was responsible for 40% of tickets sold. [31] Jim Vorel of Paste suggested this was done to try to prop up MoviePass's "unlimited movies" business model. [42]
Award | Category | Recipient(s) | Result | Ref. |
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Golden Raspberry Awards | Worst Picture | Randall Emmett, Marc Fiore, Michael Froch and George Furla | Nominated | [46] |
Worst Director | Kevin Connolly | Nominated | ||
Worst Actor | John Travolta | Nominated | ||
Worst Supporting Actress | Kelly Preston | Nominated | ||
Worst Screenplay | Lem Dobbs and Leo Rossi | Nominated | ||
Worst Screen Combo | Kelly Preston and John Travolta | Nominated | ||
Golden Schmoes Awards | Worst Movie of the Year | Nominated |
John Gotti was an American mafioso and boss of the Gambino crime family in New York City. He ordered and helped to orchestrate the murder of Gambino boss Paul Castellano in December 1985 and took over the family shortly thereafter, leading what was described as America's most powerful crime syndicate.
Constantino Paul Castellano was an American crime boss who succeeded Carlo Gambino as head of the Gambino crime family of New York City. Castellano ran the organization from 1976 until his murder on December 16, 1985.
Carlo Gambino was a Sicilian crime boss who was the leader and namesake of the Gambino crime family of New York City. Following the Apalachin Meeting in 1957, and the imprisonment of Vito Genovese in 1959, Gambino took over the Commission of the American Mafia and played a powerful role in organized crime until his death from a heart attack in 1976. During a criminal career that spanned over fifty years, Gambino served only twenty-two months in prison for a tax evasion charge in 1937.
Salvatore "Sammy the Bull" Gravano is an American former mobster who rose to the position of underboss in the Gambino crime family. As the underboss, Gravano played a major role in prosecuting John Gotti, the crime family's boss, by agreeing to testify as a government witness against him and other mobsters in a deal in which he confessed to involvement in 19 murders.
The Gambino crime family is an Italian-American Mafia crime family and one of the "Five Families" that dominate organized crime activities in New York City, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the American Mafia. The group, which went through five bosses between 1910 and 1957, is named after Carlo Gambino, boss of the family at the time of the McClellan hearings in 1963, when the structure of organized crime first gained public attention. The group's operations extend from New York and the eastern seaboard to California. Its illicit activities include labor and construction racketeering, gambling, loansharking, extortion, money laundering, prostitution, fraud, hijacking, and fencing.
Gotti is a 1996 American crime drama television film directed by Robert Harmon and written by Steve Shagan, based in part on the 1996 non-fiction book Gotti: Rise and Fall by Jerry Capeci and Gene Mustain. The film stars Armand Assante in the title role as infamous Gambino crime family boss John Gotti, along with William Forsythe, and Anthony Quinn. It aired on HBO on August 17, 1996.
Aniello John "Neil" Dellacroce was an American mobster and underboss of the Gambino crime family of New York City. He rose to the position of underboss when Carlo Gambino moved Joseph Biondo aside. Dellacroce was a mentor to future Gambino boss John Gotti.
Thomas "Tommy" Bilotti was an American mobster who briefly served as underboss of the Gambino crime family in New York City. It was his promotion that helped trigger the 1985 assassination of Gambino boss Paul Castellano; Bilotti would end up killed as well as part of the assassination.
John Angelo Gotti is an American former mobster who was the acting boss of the Gambino crime family from 1992 to 1999. He became acting boss when the boss of the family, his father John Gotti, was sent to prison. The younger Gotti was imprisoned for racketeering in 1999, and between 2004 and 2009 he was a defendant in four racketeering trials, each of which ended in a mistrial. In January 2010, federal prosecutors announced that they would no longer seek to prosecute Gotti for those charges.
Bartholomew "Bobby" Boriello was an American mobster who belonged to the Gambino crime family and served as boss John Gotti's favorite bodyguard and chauffeur. A prominent hitman during the 1980s, Boriello participated in the 1990 murder of Gambino soldier Louis DiBono.
Frank DeCicco, also known as "Frankie D" and "Frankie Cheech", was an American mobster and eventual underboss for the Gambino crime family in New York City.
Angelo Salvatore Ruggiero Sr., also known as "Quack Quack", was an American gangster. He was a member of the Gambino crime family and a friend of John Gotti's. After Gotti became leader of the family he made Ruggiero a caporegime.
Thomas Francis Gambino was an Italian-American New York City mobster and a longtime caporegime of the Gambino crime family who successfully controlled lucrative trucking rackets in the New York City Garment District. He was the son of Carlo Gambino nephew of Paul Castellano and son-in-law of Tommy Lucchese.
Boss of Bosses is a 2001 American made-for-TV movie about the life of former Gambino crime family boss Paul Castellano directed by Dwight H. Little. It stars Chazz Palminteri as Paul Castellano, Patricia Mauceri as his wife Nina, Mark Margolis as Joseph Armone, and Angela Alvarado as his mistress Gloria Olarte.
John "Johnny Carnegs" Carneglia is an American mobster in the Gambino crime family. He was sentenced to 50 years in prison in 1989 for racketeering and drug trafficking charges.
Witness to the Mob is a television film which premiered on Sunday, May 10, and concluded on Monday, May 11, 1998.
Robert "DiB" DiBernardo was an American caporegime in the Gambino crime family, who was reputed to control much of the commercial pornography in the US. During the 1984 US presidential election, publicity about DiBernardo having rented business premises from the husband of Geraldine Ferraro embroiled her in damaging media innuendo about organized crime.
Anthony J. Rampino, also known as "Tony Roach", was an American mobster who was affiliated with the Gambino crime family of New York City, and involved in truck hijacking and drug trafficking.
American Animals is a 2018 docudrama heist film written and directed by Bart Layton. Starring Evan Peters, Barry Keoghan, Blake Jenner, Jared Abrahamson, and Ann Dowd, it is an account of the Transylvania University book heist which took place at Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky in 2004. The film cuts between interview segments of the real-life people involved in the heist and actors playing out the same events.