Review of Gotti (2018) by The3Academysins — 01 Feb 2019

Gotti is one of the most ineptly constructed gangster films I have ever had the misfortune of viewing. I am glad I saw this at a friend's house and did not have to spend money to view this picture. Where to begin?

Let's start with the tagline: "He showed the world who's boss." This tagline unironically gives us a small peek at the sheer hamfisted-ness of the writing. The script throws way too much at the audience to process. It wastes way too much time introducing and spending time on characters that are never seen again, and plot points are brought up and then immediately discarded. It's style is oddly reminiscent of The Room. The performances are all over the place in terms of quality and consistently. For the most part, John Travolta stays the course, but he comes across as trying to play Frank Underwood from House of Cards a little too hard. Half of the supporting characters are just terrible actors that either speak in a monotone or slip in and out of their caricatures of New York Italian accents. Some actors are just barely squeaking by and are very clearly phoning in their performances as if they are merely here to pick up a paycheck.

The direction is completely absent from this film. The cinematography just goes through the motions of showing shot layouts, with no real thought or care placed into the framing of the scenes. It's only incredibly lazy at the very best of times. It almost feels like I am watching a film student's homework on the different types of shots that can exist in a movie.

The soundtrack is ok, and is the film's one saving grace. Avoid Gotti like you would avoid the seediest restaurant in Little Italy.