Boss of Bosses

Boss Of Bosses explores the life of Paul Castellano who for a few years the top of the heap in his chosen occupation. Chazz Palminteri gives us a good and interesting performance in the title role which follows Castellano from his boyhood on the Lower East Side to that fateful day outside Spark's Restaurant on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. An interesting irony all things considered.

It's an interesting phenomenon in that the more successful you are as a gangster the more you attract the attention of law enforcement. The seeds of your own destruction are built right into criminal activity. Castellano added a few more.

The phrase "a good earner" came into our language in the film Goodfellas. If that was the only criteria for success than Castellano may have been the most successful of all, save for Meyer Lansky who never got convicted for a major crime. Castellano when taking over the Gambino crime family thought first and foremost of earnings. He forbade drug dealing and tried to steer his crime family into the more lucrative profession of the building trades and he was making more money with much less risk.

But as he complained for what he was doing he needed a few guys from Harvard Business School. How do you explain it to guys who got into the business with their main qualifications the ability to bust a few heads? As he grew away from the rank and file Castellano set himself up for trouble.

This same story was told in films where John Gotti and Sammy Gravano were the lead characters. Now told from Castellano's point of view it has all the elements of a Greek tragedy. Palminteri is a most tragic figure indeed.

I did like the trio of FBI agents who went after Castellano. Headed by Daniel Benzali the rest of the trio included Clancy Brown and Jay Sanders. Their activities included bugging Castellano's home on Staten Island and no doubt got a few jollies from his love making to his young Hispanic mistress. Twas rumored Castellano practically went into a second childhood over her.

Paul Castellano's rise and fall are part of our gangland lore now and it's a story well told in Boss Of Bosses.

He plays 'em better than ANYbody. I'm just sorry he's been pigeon-holed in that way. He's really very talented but we're all just so used to him playing a Boss. Oh well - here we go again! I hated what happened to the housekeeper he took a liking to. She had that big sad story to tell over by the pool, began an affair with him & then her personality changed up! Now every time I see her in other roles, I can only remember the role she played in this. I think most of the other comments here pretty much tell it all...It's another Mafia Movie. Sorry, Chazz! But we still love ya! I taped this but missed the 1st 20 minutes or so. Can I get it on DVD?

Chazz puts up a good fight here, trying to rise above the script and some lousy supporting players. Not to mention the fact that he looks nothing, and I mean nothing, like the real Castellano. The screenplay trots out every mob cliche in the book, with characters blabbering about "this thing of ours" and telling the Don, "I'll do anything to prove my loyalty." Ditto the FBI guys. "Let's tighten the noose! I want him." Oy vey. Paging Robert Towne....

The story also glosses over many of the more sordid personal problems of the BOB. Still, I was never bored. Definitely better than most made for TV "movies."

all i will say is that this movie was decent, nothing more, nothing less. it's not exactly anything to get excited about as it is no more than average. the whole way through the film, i got the impression it was trying to copy other mafia films. for example the flashback to when chazz was a young hood reminded me so much of the first half of once upon a time in america and the trip to florida resembled that of donnie brasco.

nevertheless, chazz was brilliant and i would recommend this 'movie' to any fans of him, its just a shame he was reduced to this when he far more capable of more challenging roles. it was also nice to see steven bauer but a shame he had such a small role in a virtually unheard of movie.

C+

This story has been modified for the screen without a doubt. For the assassination scene two eight-round semi-autos fired twenty-two shots with no visible reloads, leaving shell casings as evidence all over the place? Okay, so I have high standards for docudramas. The book this was based on was pretty good. It did not portray Paul Castellano as sympathetically as was done in the movie. For those with an interest in this story and no time to read it's okay, but don't kid yourself that this is the whole story.