Mafioso: The Father, the Son

This movie was great, very well produced and all the actors were really good. I seen the the movie on ABC network, but the DVD was a lot better. If you like mob movies, i strongly recommend this film. The relationship between the father and the son was very believable and very moving. Sal Mazzotta, great work and i cant wait to see your next movie, as an actor you are really good. My mom and dad really liked the movie, they loved the actor who played your father, he was very good. This film reminds me of the Sopranos, very real to life. Hopefully you will consider Canada for your next project. I lived here my whole life and it is a great city to possibly shoot your next project.

It was made in my hometown Philly, that's the only reason I watched it. That and I'm a big fan of cops & wops flicks. This one left way too much to be desired with respect to the overall acting quality, and to hint that it could be compared to the Sopranos is ludicrous. It seemed more like a documentary in overall content presentation.

I agree with the pans it has received in the more timely comments that have been posted. For me, it was like going back to the block for a little while, and taking in the scenery. Reading some of the favorable comments it received made me wonder if the writers of same were made an offer they couldn't refuse.

I saw this film at a screening and it can't help but be compared to the Sopranos. The three leading characters of this film are very intriguing, all with an interesting dynamic or relationship. I found that the relationship between the father (John Costanza) and his son (Sal Mazzotta) the most intriguing. Costanzo's softer side is shown when we realize that he just wants to take care of his son and his family, and that he's not in it just for the money, which makes their relationship unique for a Mafia film. As we watch the Mafia family suffer one tragedy after another, we realize this is not just another Mafia movie. Mazzotta and Vito's (Leo Rossi) relationship was also very interesting, particularly in the latter part of the film where their association takes a much uglier turn. Leo Rossi's performance was another one that had me hooked, I guessed early on what was going to happen between them but it didn't dampen the effect on the film for me at all. The acting was very good and unusual characters made this film just as interesting as the Sopranos, which I really am hooked on. I recommend this if you are ready for graphic violence.

Sure, they've been a lot of bad movies that are perfect examples on how not to make one that's so damn bad, but "Mafioso: The Father, The Son", a dog's mess on the sidewalk that pathetically fails at being on par with the Godfather films and "The Sopranos", does a more than obvious job. Here are nine "don't" rules:

1) Don't give your film a bad title. 2) Don't have one of your film's co-writers act as the main character if he can't look awake and traditionally handsome, let alone act. Put a REAL gun in his mouth, and he'll get the message. 3) Don't create a mute supporting character and make him so damn uninteresting, except being fat and able to handle kung-fu combatants. 4) Don't hire good supporting actors to act in a crap film. 5) Don't have your actors, if you're working on a Mafia drama, emote every Italian stereotype in the bigot book and dehumanize your characters into caricatures. 6) Don't advertise your film being scored by an Oscar-winning music composer, when you don't. 7) Don't have a voice-over at the film's start and end when the story's happening in the present. 8) Don't have a bad film editor. 9) Don't "wide-screen" something that looks like a third-rate daytime soap opera.

If you're interested in the story of a mobster's son taking over the "family business", when "the Goddaddy" is killed, you're better off making the film yourself, if you follow the aforementioned rules. Avoid "Mafioso" like every STDs in existence, capeech?

Geez, where to start? The casting, perhaps. Well, marginal actors with bad material can a real mess make, and this flick stonk so badly I'm longing for a shower. Rossi, with a writing credit (somehow I see him brainstorming with some no-talent hack real writer), crafts himself a plum role that proves the rule about how that's not a good idea. The actor cast in the lead as Vito, has got to be the ugliest, silly looking wop in Hollywood whose lips hang like a raw wound on a mug that could shatter a mirror. Vito's dad, however, deserves the most thumbs-down for believability. He's about as credible for being a mob boss as Andy Dick.

Next, the direction, the script, and the rest. Bad, and worse. I can only assume that this project launched due to Sopranos' success, and they supposed they could snag a low-budget masterpiece by casting their own buddies and their family with an inkling they could act. Sophia Coppola should have shown SOMEBODY in charge how that can work out.

Keep hunting if you want to watch a mafia movie with something to offer. This is a waste of time.