“Gotti” Podcast Movie Review

By Daniel Barnes on January 29, 2019

Gotti (2018; Kevin Connolly) – Dare Daniel Podcast Episode 31

“Let’s get into this fucking travesty.”

In this Family-friendly episode of the Dare Daniel Podcast, Mafia history buff Corky McDonnell and legitimate businessman Daniel Barnes take their whacks at Kevin Connolly’s 2018 critical punching bag biopic Gotti, starring John Travolta as the legendary New York mob boss.

A love letter to the Gotti family that became an instant legend bad movie upon release, the film combines a half-dozen framing devices, nonsensical time jumps, real-life news reports, bullet point scenes without beginnings or ends (or middles for that matter), and straight-to-camera narration into an indecipherable, unwatchable, excruciating mess.

The flummoxed hosts discuss Travolta’s immobile face, create a gangster movie soundtrack station on Sirius called Mob Hitz, and reveal the secret identity of Pit Bull.

GOTTI FACTS AND FIGURES

U.S. theatrical release date: June 15, 2018

Box office: $4.3 million (production budget: $10 million)

Critic scores: 0 on Rotten Tomatoes; 24 on Metacritic

This week’s craft beer: Crooked Lane Brewing‘s Oktoberfest Vienna Lager (5.2% ABV)

This week’s Darer: Linda Barnes (aka Daniel’s Mom)

Why did Daniel’s Mom dare Daniel and Corky to watch Gotti? “I have only one word for Dare Daniel: Gotti. Mic drop. Forty-four producers, what could possibly go wrong?”

IMDB synopsis: “The story of crime boss John Gotti and his son.”

This week’s referenced movies: The Incredibles 2; American Animals; China Salesman; The Godfather; The Silence of the Lambs; Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein; Meatballs; Shaft; Fifty Shades of Grey films; Back to the Future; Goodfellas; The Monuments Men; The Snowman