Gotti (2018)

Elevator Pitch: The film is composed of flashbacks as John Gotti meets with his son, who intends to make a plea bargain, in prison. John is dying of throat cancer. We follow his life from his time as a minor mob enforcer who carries out murders for the bosses, sometimes while on release from prison. He progresses up the management tree by having his own bosses and sometimes the bosses of rival organisations dispatched. When his 12 year old son is accidentally run over and killed the man who did it disappears. He is constantly hunted by the police who seem to be unable to keep him in prison, hence the nickname. 

Content:  No sex or nudity, some drinking and smoking I think, but no illegal drugs consumed. The father and son spend time together in a prison meeting room.  Gotti is seen carrying out shootings with hand guns on behalf of others. Later is crew are seen disposing of rivals again with hand guns, also one car explosion. The bosses meet and rive around in cars. Gotti has bad tempered confrontations with people. There are social events where people drink and dance. 

A View: This movie bombed, and was nominated for Razzies in six categories. This it seems to me was a bit unfair on John Travolta who I thought did a pretty good job, but seemed to be hampered by a script which lacked any form of tension, nor had within it any likable characters, or even anyone with whom we might sympathise. So, bearing these deficiencies in mind it might be better to choose a well presented fiction about the mafia. There are plenty about.

Here are three films which depict the rise of individuals in the underworld, which have been reviewed on this site: Prizzi’s Honor, Goodfellas, Scarface .