The Wannabe

This is a well-done film about a couple of petty criminals (not too bright) that end up robbing social club card games, supposedly to get money so they can move to Hawaii. It's well-acted; a good character study. It's based on the lives of Thomas and Rosemarie Uva, whose spree started in 1991 and ended in December 1992. Another director did the same story as the movie, Rob the Mob.

I thought this was going to be a mafia related story. Instead, it's more about a weirdo and his pathetic life of mafia adoration. Slow paced and psichological. Depressing story of a pathetic couple of (real) characters. Took me an effort to finish it. Towards the end I just wanted them dead as soon as possible, so it could be over already.

The Wannabe or Rob The Mob your pick for Me Rob the Mob much better Actors.

Thomas idolizes the Mob and especially 'the Teflon Don' – John Gotti, seeing him as a modern day Robin Hood and the incidental crimes as sort of a necessary evil – sort of thing. Anyway we join them in 1992 when Gotti is on trial and the Teflon becomes 'Velcro' as all the charges start to stick.

Now Thomas is going out with a girl of questionable intellect and indeed taste who is brilliantly played by Patricia Arquette. Desperate to become part of the Gangsta scene Thomas hatches a plan to free his idol but in so doing he sets off a chain of events that he will become useless to control.

So is it any good? Well it is very watchable but sometimes feels very small in that it is a very personal tale about – essentially- two people and how they believe their own bull. Whilst this does not detract from the entertainment it also leave unmolested the underlying issues of worshipping the worst in society. That said it is still a well made and acted film that will appeal to any who like mob lore but it is not in the same league as the 'Goodfelllas' of this world.

It's not the Godfather nor is it Goodfellas. Wannabe stands on its own as an excellent character study. Amara plays Thomas, a wannabe mobster. Arnette is Rose, his supporting wife. Enjoy this movie for what it is.