If you want to see a movie that really tells you about mob life, do not look any further. This is it. You don't just get the mob. You get history. You get New York City history. You get the locations where it happened as it happened, and it will make you think even if you have never been to New York City that you are there. This is as New York as you can get, as powerful as anything that Coppola and Scorsese ever made, and you get not only the violence but the heart. You also get one of the greatest performances ever captured on film, Armand Assante, who will make you think that you are witnessing a newspaper come to life.
Other than what I recall reading about John Gotti in the 1980's, I knew nothing about him, and as the film progressed, those newspaper headlines popped back into my mind as it seemed as if he hears stories were somehow embedded in the back of my consciousness and all they needed to do was to be seen on film to be brought out again. I certainly don't believe in sympathy for ruthless killers, but I did feel that every time an assassination took place in this film that the person pulling the trigger was reaching into their soul to beg forgiveness for what the guys in charge would refer to as necessary business.
This is one of those films that makes you ask why certain movies end up on cable TV rather than going into the theaters where they can reach the big guns and get the big Oscar. Assante is brilliant here and deservedly won the Emmy. Anthony Quinn, as an aging middle of the road mob soldier, has you feeling pain for his decreasing health. His embarrassing death in "Mobster" is forgiven here. What is important here is the point of view, not a judgement, but simply the facts, and certainly, they are presented to record history as it happened. We may not understand the rhyme or reason of organized crime, but unless you end up being victimized by them, you can't help but be fascinated by them.
Other than what I recall reading about John Gotti in the 1980's, I knew nothing about him, and as the film progressed, those newspaper headlines popped back into my mind as it seemed as if he hears stories were somehow embedded in the back of my consciousness and all they needed to do was to be seen on film to be brought out again. I certainly don't believe in sympathy for ruthless killers, but I did feel that every time an assassination took place in this film that the person pulling the trigger was reaching into their soul to beg forgiveness for what the guys in charge would refer to as necessary business.
This is one of those films that makes you ask why certain movies end up on cable TV rather than going into the theaters where they can reach the big guns and get the big Oscar. Assante is brilliant here and deservedly won the Emmy. Anthony Quinn, as an aging middle of the road mob soldier, has you feeling pain for his decreasing health. His embarrassing death in "Mobster" is forgiven here. What is important here is the point of view, not a judgement, but simply the facts, and certainly, they are presented to record history as it happened. We may not understand the rhyme or reason of organized crime, but unless you end up being victimized by them, you can't help but be fascinated by them.