Gotti is shoddy. The John Travolta vanity production had been in the works for so long that I actually bought into the advance hype. It didn’t take long to surmise that Gotti is to Goodfellas what The Valachi Papers was to The Godfather: an overview of gangland cliches, both spearheaded by major movie stars playing to the rafters. Alas, Charles Bronson’s sleepy Joe Valachi barely made it past the fourth row; Travolta socks it into the booth. (Ditto makeup artist, Björn Rehbein). The script by Lem Dobbs (The Limey) and actor/B-movie made man Leo Rossi (Maniac Cop, Halloween II) paints Gotti as a good provider and husband (there’s not a gumar in sight), a father eager to set his son up in the family business. So what if a few brains get splattered along the way? As directed by Kevin Connolly, the biopic of the “Teflon Don” barely sticks to the screen. With Stacy Keach, Taylor Pruitt Vince, and Mrs. Travolta, Kelly Preston as Mrs. Gotti. (2018) — Scott Marks
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