Gotti (2018) - Rotten Tomatoes (0% score before opening)

Too much scientology with Travolta? This is a shame. I love mafia movies and would love to see a good Gotti film.

Actually, reviews I've seen said that Travolta was great, but everything else sucked.

https://ew.com/movies/2018/06/15/gotti-movie-review/

It’s not a good movie. But the blame can’t be laid at its star’s Ferragamo-shod feet.

Decked out in a closetful of shiny wide-lapel suits, snug goombah turtlenecks, and pinkie rings the size of hubcaps, Travolta somehow manages to summon a ferocious and committed performance while everything else around him falls to pieces. He’s as Teflon as Gotti ever was. Travolta has always been a pro, even (perhaps especially) in movies beneath his talents like this one. He doesn’t know how to half-step it. No, he may not look much like the real Gotti, but then again he didn’t look much like “Bill Clinton” in Primary Colors either – and he was great in it. Somehow he manages to inhabit roles even if they don’t appear to suit him on the surface. And in Gotti, his clenched-jaw scowl and made-man swagger are the only things that make the movie even remotely worth checking out.

[...]

It’s a shame because while I don’t find Gotti’s life all that interesting, the film’s hyperactive impatience wastes a handful of performances that are better than average. Pruitt Taylor Vince as one of Gotti’s lieutenants who keeps needing to be bailed out of trouble brings a hapless, hangdog air of tragedy, Kelly Preston juices up the thankless role of mafioso wife with a den mother’s feral protectiveness, and Chris Mulkey quietly steals every scene he’s in as a soldier playing both sides against the middle before he meets his maker in grisly fashion. But this is Travolta’s show for better or worse. He provides the only clue to the mystery of the Gotti charisma that made him a media celebrity in the ‘90s as the Dapper Don. Whether he’s firing off cocky wisecracks or barking threats at his inept underlings, he grabs your attention. It’s too bad that the rest of the movie lets him down so badly. After eight years of loyalty to this belated and disappointing film, Travolta deserved better.

Actually, reviews I've seen said that Travolta was great, but everything else sucked. https://ew.com/movies/2018/06/15/gotti-movie-review/ > *It’s not a good movie. But the blame can’t be laid at its star’s Ferragamo-shod feet.* > > *Decked out in a closetful of shiny wide-lapel suits, snug goombah turtlenecks, and pinkie rings the size of hubcaps, Travolta somehow manages to summon a ferocious and committed performance while everything else around him falls to pieces. He’s as Teflon as Gotti ever was. Travolta has always been a pro, even (perhaps especially) in movies beneath his talents like this one. He doesn’t know how to half-step it. No, he may not look much like the real Gotti, but then again he didn’t look much like “Bill Clinton” in Primary Colors either – and he was great in it. Somehow he manages to inhabit roles even if they don’t appear to suit him on the surface. And in Gotti, his clenched-jaw scowl and made-man swagger are the only things that make the movie even remotely worth checking out.* > > [...] > > *It’s a shame because while I don’t find Gotti’s life all that interesting, the film’s hyperactive impatience wastes a handful of performances that are better than average. Pruitt Taylor Vince as one of Gotti’s lieutenants who keeps needing to be bailed out of trouble brings a hapless, hangdog air of tragedy, Kelly Preston juices up the thankless role of mafioso wife with a den mother’s feral protectiveness, and Chris Mulkey quietly steals every scene he’s in as a soldier playing both sides against the middle before he meets his maker in grisly fashion. But this is Travolta’s show for better or worse. He provides the only clue to the mystery of the Gotti charisma that made him a media celebrity in the ‘90s as the Dapper Don. Whether he’s firing off cocky wisecracks or barking threats at his inept underlings, he grabs your attention. It’s too bad that the rest of the movie lets him down so badly. After eight years of loyalty to this belated and disappointing film, Travolta deserved better.*

[–] CDanger 2 points (+2|-0)

And an 80% audience rating! Guess the taste of the masses and critics are complete opposites. Or grade inflation is so rampant now that nothing score under 50%.

Gotti (2018) - Rotten Tomatoes (0% score before opening)

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