Frank Nitti: The Enforcer

Doesn't completely line up with multiple documentaries I have seen on Nitti, but lines up more than not. Pretty accurate for Hollywood at least. And Hollywood seldom gets things right, especially when it comes to a guy nicknamed "The Enforcer". Acting was very good. Set design, wardrobe, etc were excellent. Hard to believe this movie is 36 years old.

Casting is incredible. Anthony LaPaglia plays Nitti in a way that you see he was completely impressed in the role. He isn't playing your standard gangster role. Nitti was a complex person, equally confident as he was broken.

Honestly, a few more historical accuracies and this would be a perfect movie.

I say surprisingly well done because it came to the tube in less than a year after DePalma's Untouchables, which took liberties, but is still a classic. This film is risky for the time it hit television in 1988. It told Nitti's life truthfully. It's a great film...and I recommend it to anyone who likes LaPaglia or the genre!! It has a self destructive character quality: Loyalty was Nitti's downfall. The way he died possibly saved a few lives, starting with his families. Everyone knows Nitti died, but to see how, see the film.It's directed well, but the Capone character comes off like a cartoon. The actor playing Al seems WAY too dependent on Nitti. Well acted by all. Nobody can watch this and be let down.

I believe that this made-for-TV-biopic was Anthony LaPaglia's first major leading role on screen - and what a great start! The film is beautifully made and acted by all throughout. As has been already mentioned it is illuminating to see a member of the mafia being depicted as a truly caring husband and father, thus making the scene concerning the death of his wife intensely poignant - LaPaglia is always streets ahead of most other actors in putting over the deeper emotional aspects of a character and here in this role he excels. I assume the story keeps basically to the truth though as a Brit I'm not totally au fait with the intricacies of Nitti's life. I think anyone interested in the US mafioso and who found "The Untouchables" film and the old TV series enjoyable but a little far-fetched would thoroughly enjoy and appreciate this incarnation. For any LaPaglia fan out there I would have to say that this film definitely falls into the category of compulsory and compulsive viewing!!

This was an excellent, absorbing, heartrending flick. I don't understand why LaPaglia never includes it in his filmography when doing print interviews. It was great and a great introduction for him to U.S. audiences.

"Nitti" covered Frank's rise and fall and tragic end in the Mafia organization of (if I remember correctly) the 1920's and '30's. What was especially interesting to me was how well the film showed the dichotomy of the gangster as ruthless "company" man and devoted, loving family man. Both aspects of Nitti were well drawn. LaPaglia, in what I believe was his American debut, still babyfaced and fresh, was especially chilling because of that freshfaced aspect. One didn't expect his Nitti character to act as a horrifying nasty man. On the other hand, the loving scenes with his wife and small child were sweet and touching and absolutely believable.

If you see this film in your dead-of-afternoon or late-night listings please make it a must see. As I said before, it is a really good flick.

I turned this on only to have something to watch while exercising. Although my routine ended before the movie did, I taped it to watch later. I was very surprised at how well-made and interesting it turned out to be. I can't add much to the other excellent reviews but it's definitely worth viewing if a person is even vaguely interested in the subject matter.