John Travolta should stay away from vanity projects. He has had to learn it the hard way due to 2000's colossal fiasco called "Battlefield Earth", he has to learn it again with "Gotti", thus far one of current year's worst-reviewed big projects.
There is at least one scientologist movie star who thrives on vanity projects and who we couldn't even imagine without always reaching high.
But Travolta ain't Tom Cruise. He has a lot difficulties with just finding audience for most of his movies, he doesn't need extra pressure.
What the man needs are quality screenplays and directors - both of which are not exactly the strong points of "Gotti".
Having said that, I am quite surprised by the critical mauling this mafia drama about New York's real-life godfather (played by Travolta, of course) has received.
Sure, it's no born classic, and having "that "Entourage" guy" as a director doesn't help - but the ride is smooth enough to grant the genre fans some easily digestible entertainment.
I predict the movie getting warmer reception on Netflix. There are countless other B-grade mob movies that are just so much worse and forgettable than "Gotti".
Taken by its own standards, the movie achieves its goal of portraying the life and times of major modern American crime figure.
The pacing is good, the attention to period detail sufficient, actors believe in the material, and there's enough violence to enliven the otherwise rather talky approach.
Then there are weak points which certainly don't kill the experience but make it more difficult to get favorable reviews.
For one, I am not fan of the visual style. Be it the fault of director or photopgraphy unable to find proper lighting conditions, or the restricted budget, or maybe just digital camera tehnology, but the movie looks rather dark and cheap.
Having most scenes in small and dark rooms doesn't certainly help. Based on all that, the result is reminiscent of a TV show episode, rather than high-profile crime drama. In 2018, we have higher expectations for this sort of thing.
The other problematic aspect is the storytelling. I don't mind the fragmented approach that often easily jumps between Gotti's family and business matters, contradicting the creative decision to offer a huge amount of slow dialogue.
But it's easy to notice how little depth the character and story development have. The whole 110 minutes go by without a clear message about what is so captivating about Gotti's life that we just have to see a movie about him.
It's feels like authors assumed that he was such an important man and Travolta is so exceptionally good at portraying him, that we don't need to go deeper than that. The emphasis seems to be more on "family" politics than the titular hero.
And yes, Travolta does give a good performance which may have Oscar chances come next winter. It's a physical, carefully measured performance, taking into consideration all the mannerisms and little physical quirks that Gotti may have had.
I was sold by this haughty, strangely unmoving face alone which doesn't need additional convincing that its owner is a coldblooded killer.
The cast is uniformly good, Pruitt Taylor Vince standing out as the godfather's best friend, but it's mostly Travolta's show, with not much room for anybody else. Just like in the man's life, I assume.
All in all, despite the flaws, I found "Gotti" to be slick enough to satisfy my mafia drama cravings for one sitting. It's not boring, to say the least.
I don't really understand the bad rep it has gathered so far. Let's see if the general opinion improves when the project reaches streaming sites such as Netflix.
There is at least one scientologist movie star who thrives on vanity projects and who we couldn't even imagine without always reaching high.
But Travolta ain't Tom Cruise. He has a lot difficulties with just finding audience for most of his movies, he doesn't need extra pressure.
What the man needs are quality screenplays and directors - both of which are not exactly the strong points of "Gotti".
Having said that, I am quite surprised by the critical mauling this mafia drama about New York's real-life godfather (played by Travolta, of course) has received.
Sure, it's no born classic, and having "that "Entourage" guy" as a director doesn't help - but the ride is smooth enough to grant the genre fans some easily digestible entertainment.
I predict the movie getting warmer reception on Netflix. There are countless other B-grade mob movies that are just so much worse and forgettable than "Gotti".
Taken by its own standards, the movie achieves its goal of portraying the life and times of major modern American crime figure.
The pacing is good, the attention to period detail sufficient, actors believe in the material, and there's enough violence to enliven the otherwise rather talky approach.
Then there are weak points which certainly don't kill the experience but make it more difficult to get favorable reviews.
For one, I am not fan of the visual style. Be it the fault of director or photopgraphy unable to find proper lighting conditions, or the restricted budget, or maybe just digital camera tehnology, but the movie looks rather dark and cheap.
Having most scenes in small and dark rooms doesn't certainly help. Based on all that, the result is reminiscent of a TV show episode, rather than high-profile crime drama. In 2018, we have higher expectations for this sort of thing.
The other problematic aspect is the storytelling. I don't mind the fragmented approach that often easily jumps between Gotti's family and business matters, contradicting the creative decision to offer a huge amount of slow dialogue.
But it's easy to notice how little depth the character and story development have. The whole 110 minutes go by without a clear message about what is so captivating about Gotti's life that we just have to see a movie about him.
It's feels like authors assumed that he was such an important man and Travolta is so exceptionally good at portraying him, that we don't need to go deeper than that. The emphasis seems to be more on "family" politics than the titular hero.
And yes, Travolta does give a good performance which may have Oscar chances come next winter. It's a physical, carefully measured performance, taking into consideration all the mannerisms and little physical quirks that Gotti may have had.
I was sold by this haughty, strangely unmoving face alone which doesn't need additional convincing that its owner is a coldblooded killer.
The cast is uniformly good, Pruitt Taylor Vince standing out as the godfather's best friend, but it's mostly Travolta's show, with not much room for anybody else. Just like in the man's life, I assume.
All in all, despite the flaws, I found "Gotti" to be slick enough to satisfy my mafia drama cravings for one sitting. It's not boring, to say the least.
I don't really understand the bad rep it has gathered so far. Let's see if the general opinion improves when the project reaches streaming sites such as Netflix.