There is a revealing moment in "Gotti" when the "Dapper Don," John Gotti, makes the decision to boot his long time associate Angelo Ruggiero out of the Gotti crime syndicate. The term that is used for this kind of banishment is putting a man "on the shelf." The film suggests that being placed on the shelf was a fate worse than death for Ruggiero, who in fact died of natural (i.e., non-gangland criminal) causes.

The "on the shelf" theme reappears in what is the most successful part of the film in the relationship of Gotti and his son, John A. Gotti, Jr. While his father is dying of cancer in prison, a meeting occurs in which the younger Gotti breaks the word to his father and his sacred pledge to the cosa nostra. Gotti, Jr. has decided to accept a plea deal with the intent to remove himself permanently from the family business.

The father-son conflict and drama that builds out of two generations of different views on "La Famiglia," is compelling in the final third of the film. The actors, especially John Travolta as Gotti, Sr., were dynamic in their roles and developed a compelling psychological tug-of-war between father and son.

On the other hand, the remainder (and majority) of the film relied far too heavily on a highlight reel of criminal activities of the Gambino family. The focus on Gotti's rise to power through the murder of "Big Paul" Castellano in broad daylight outside the Sparks Steak House in midtown Manhattan was an all-too-familiar story that did not shed new light on Gotti.

The film also failed to demonstrate the great popular appeal of Gotti, especially in New York where he gained an enormous following right up to the time of his death. How does one explain this phenomenon in light of the overwhelming evidence, including recordings of Gotti's own voice, for Gotti's brutal criminal activities? One of Gotti's mottoes was "never take a backward step." But the film never portrayed Gotti as taking a step forward. Contrary to his creed, Gotti's quest for power always seemed to moving his life in reverse.

There's an attempt here to give us a flavour of the life of John Gotti - the Teflon Don; the real-life godfather; the head of the Gambino crime family in New York City. It centres around a visit by John Jr. to his father in prison, as Gotti is dying of cancer and Junior is cutting a deal with prosecutors to serve his time and then get out of the life. And as that encounter progresses, the story of Gotti's "career" and its impact on his real family is revealed as he rose to head of the family.

To be blunt, this isn't a great movie. It paints a picture of life in organized crime, but to me it seemed poorly put together, with no real flow or over-arching narrative; things just being thrown together sometimes with little rhyme or reason. There isn't really much in the way of character development. We get the point that we're watching movie about a bunch of mobsters, but I can't honestly say that I found myself caring much about anyone. The lead role was played by John Travolta. His performance was, I thought, uneven. And the truth is that the movie didn't really hold my attention. There were times when it became little more than background noise because, frankly, it just wasn't that interesting. It desperately needed better pacing, and a better flow to the story. (3/10)

GOTTI is a low rent real-life gangster epic based on the true story of John Gotti, one of America's most notorious criminals. This surprisingly low budget, low effort production is notable for starring John Travolta in the title role and he gives an assured performance, but sadly his efforts iare in vain. This is a sub-Scorsese type picture, content to go through expected motions and rather padded when it comes down to it. When the pacing is this slow you need real quality to keep you interested and sadly GOTTI doesn't have that. The supporting cast are lacklustre (aside from Pruitt Taylor Vance) and the interesting parts are outweighed by the tedious bits.