The Wannabe

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.

This film seems to never identify what it is. Yeah, it's a "mob" movie - like we haven't seen enough of them. The story is simple enough - a loser who is a little off is a mafia wannabe and is infatuated with, who else? John Gotti. It revolves around Gotti's last trial when he was found guilty. Thomas is in court every day and figures out that a black juror and a black spectator are twin brothers so he decides to get to the juror through the brother. Only problem is they aren't brothers. It's poorly directed and the whole premise is not brought out well.

Thomas is a loner who is out of prison on parole, but we never find out why he went to prison. By his actions we might assume it was for some petty crime or drugs. He finds a tough neighborhood girlfriend and they become a team, drink, take drugs, and when his plan to free Gotti fails, they turn to a hit and run robbing operation. They stick up card games that are "protected " by the mob. It's poorly designed and a bit ridiculous since Thomas never wears a mask and everyone knows him, but he seems to walk the streets on NYC without worries.

The crime spree tapers down after he fails to assassinate Curtis Swila whose radio talk show has been badmouthing Gotti throughout the trial. So bad...

Fortunately, this film had to end and dies with the Thomas and Rose getting "hit" in their car.

Supposedly a true story? Bad script, bad direction, makes for a bad movie.

It does not get more blue collar than The Wannabe, a no trills mob movie about a Mob geeks obsession with the John Gotti trails of the early 90s.

Vincent Piazza plays the mob geek, Thomas. his performance in the movie was pretty well done. His psychotic nature just kept escalating as the movie progressed which made him entertaining to focus on.

Also like the performance of Patricia Arquette, who played Thomas' equally touched girlfriend, Rose. I felt a certain dignity to her performance that made you feel sorry for Rose instead of sad.

Overall the movie was a very disturbing tale of Thomas and Rose, a weird version of Bonnie and Clyde, in a movie that feels like a low rate version of Taxi Driver.

A decent indi film to look at.

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.

This was a puzzle. The film based on the true story of Tommy Uva and Rosie DeToma who decided to rob the mafia in their own drinking dens in the early 90s. He was 28. She was 31. Yet in the film the actor Vincent Piazza playing Tommy is 39 and Patricia Arquette - looking a bit like a glamorous grannie / mature Chrissy Hind - is 47! Too old to play a couple of naive wannabe Bonnie and Clyde's in thrall to mafia boss John Gotti.

After a slow start the robberies suddenly spew out as if on fast forward as Tommy gets addicted to drugs and the hand held camera is flying all over the place.

Rob the Mob (2014) played the same story for laughs. This film fell a bit flat but has a slight twist in the ending as if she knew what was coming.