Why Travolta's Gotti is a terrible Gangster movie?

Is John Travolta still a big name in Hollywood? He was once, then he faded into oblivion; resurrected again thanks to Quentin Tarantino’s post-modern classic Pulp Fiction. But, he failed to capitalize on his Pulp Fiction glory—the proof is films like Battle Field Earth and now Gotti.

Gotti is of course just one among many worst movies Travolta has appeared in. It is a gangster movie that doesn’t know where its heart is. Gotti is not only Travolta’s worst movie, but also one of the worst gangster movies ever filmed.

Is Gotti the end of the Gangster movies?

The gangster genre has been one of the most beloved genres in Hollywood. We have seen great gangster movies like The Godfather, Scarface, Goodfellas…the list goes one.

Some of these three films successfully transcended the restrictions the genre and managed to be among the great films in all genre, especially Goodfellas and The Godfather and its sequel.

Gotti has more in common with The Godfather series and Goodfellas as it deals with the mafia. Gotti is about the real-life mob boss John Gotti (the head of Gambino crime family). So it is both a biopic and a gangster movie. However, it is a terrible example for both the genres.

Violence, gun fights, profane language are some of the key aspects of the gangster films. However, in Gotti the violence is shockingly diluted, the gun fights are minimal. There are no sexual or erotic sequences. There isn’t even a proper romantic or sensual kiss. 

There have been plenty of movies in the gangster genre over the years. It had a pretty long run. After watching Gotti, one may suspect that ‘is it the beginning of the end of the genre?’

Gotti forgets visual story telling

Gotti is an absolute mess. The screenplay, though coherent, is lacking life. The characters are not given distinct personality.

But the major reason Gotti ended up as a disaster if Kevin Connolly’s incompetent direction. Connolly often forgets cinema is a visual medium.

In Gotti the director lets actors deliver the lines. The narrative move forward mainly through dialogue. And the lines the characters deliver are not catchy or memorable.

Nothing stays in our mind after watching Gotti. No attention is given to details. The camera mostly focuses on characters and no attention is given to the background.

There is a scene in which one of Gotti’s sons die after hit by a car. Gotti and members of his family are devastated.

But the sequence is lazily directed so that we cannot identify with the tragedy in Gotti’s family. There’s no emotional connection between the characters and the audience. Classic example of lame direction.