For many years, John Travolta was obsessed with playing mobster John Gotti. “John Gotti Jr. gave me his father’s coat, jackets, shirts, neckties, watches, cufflinks, pocket squares—and the whole wardrobe fit me perfectly,” he recalls. A fighter, schemer, and gossip, Gotti was “the last modern gangster,” according to Travolta. Growing up as an Italian-American kid in the Bronx, young Gotti was told by his father that the mafia didn’t exist. As an ambitious fledgling, he worked for Neil Dellacroce (Stacy Keach) and became an enforcer for Carlo Gambino (Michael Cipiti). Gotti (Travolta) clawed his way to the Dapper Don pinnacle after having syndicate boss Paul Castellano (Donald John Volpenhein) shot outside Sparks Steak House in 1985. Married to Victoria (played by Travolta’s real-life wife Kelly Preston), he sired five children, including John Gotti Jr. Tragedy struck when his 12-year-old son Frank died in a car accident in front of his home. Directed by Kevin Connolly, the film features Travolta’s narration pointlessly meandering through the high-and-low points of Gotti’s life. Drawing on John Gotti Jr.’s memoir Shadow of My Father, the concept for the film morphed over a period of eight years, whirling through three different titles, four directors (Nick Cassavetes, Barry Levinson, Joe Johnston, and Connolly), and 44 producers. The result: a bungled bio-pic. Not recommended. (S. Granger)
Gotti
Vertical, 104 min., R, DVD: $18.99, Blu-ray: $23.99, Sept. 25
Gotti
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