Gotti is a 2018 American biographical crime film about New York City mobster John Gotti, directed by Kevin Connolly and written by Lem Dobbs and Leo Rossi. It stars John Travolta as Gotti, alongside his real-life wife Kelly Preston as Gotti's wife Victoria in her penultimate film.
The film was announced in 2010, but it languished in development for several years with numerous directors and actors, including Barry Levinson and Al Pacino. Principal photography finally began in July 2016 in Cincinnati, Ohio and concluded in Brooklyn, New York in February 2017.
The film was originally set to be released in the United States on December 15, 2017, but Lionsgate, the slated distributor, sold the film back to its producers and studio, delaying its release. On March 12, 2018, its new release date was announced for June 15, 2018 by SunRider Productions and Vertical Entertainment, after premiering at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival.
Gotti underperformed both critically and commercially; it grossed just $6 million against a $10 million production budget and received universally negative reviews from critics, who lamented the writing, aesthetics, and performances, although its use of makeup and Travolta's performance received some praise. It is one of the few films to hold an approval rating of on the website Rotten Tomatoes. At the 39th Golden Raspberry Awards, the film was nominated for six Razzies, including Worst Picture and Worst Actor for Travolta.
Plot
Mob boss John Gotti reflects on his three-decade reign of crime in New York City. In 1972, as a young associate, he is tasked by Aniello "Neil" Dellacroce, underboss to the Gambino family, to kill gangster James McBratney, who is believed to be responsible for the kidnapping and murder of boss Carlo Gambino's nephew. Killing McBratney at a bar, Gotti becomes a “made man”.
Decades later, in the 1990s, an elderly Gotti is incarcerated at the United States Medical Center for Federal Prisoners in Springfield, Missouri, having been diagnosed with throat cancer. He meets with his son, John “Junior” Gotti, who is considering a plea bargain.
In 1972, Gotti is identified as McBratney's killer and sentenced to four years at Green Haven; due to the Gambino family's influence, however, he is allowed to leave on "medical furloughs" to conduct further criminal business, including another hit. Gotti is transferred to Lewisburg and is let out on parole in 1974 after serving just two years. He joins his wife, Victoria, and children at their new home in Howard Beach, Queens, while working his way up to become a capo.
By 1979, Gotti operates out of the Bergin Hunt and Fish Club with his friend Angelo Ruggiero. His oldest son Junior enters the New York Military Academy, but hopes to follow in his father's footsteps. Despite Dellacroce's counsel and the assurances of fellow capo Frank DeCicco, Gotti is mistrustful of the Lucchese family's top underboss, Anthony Casso. In 1980, Gotti's 12-year-old son Frank is struck and killed by a neighbor's car. The neighbor later disappears, and the only witness to his abduction is intimidated into silence.
By 1985, the Gambino family has come under increased scrutiny, and Gotti becomes convinced that the family boss, Paul Castellano, is too weak to lead. Junior instigates a bar brawl that leaves a man dead, infuriating his father. Federal authorities release a set of embarrassing tapes, caught on an FBI wiretap of Gambino family meetings, that reveal Gotti's involvement in labor racketeering. Gotti avoids a criminal conviction when the case goes to trial, but the prosecution reveals that his close associate, Wilfred "Willy Boy" Johnson, is an informant; Gotti agrees to give him a “pass” for betraying the family, but does not object when Johnson is murdered. Gotti learns that Castellano plans to reorganize the Gambino family and possibly break up Gotti's crew, due to Gotti defying his authority. Dying of cancer, Dellacroce helps Gotti secure the approval of the Five Families to eliminate Castellano, who fails to attend Dellacroce's funeral.
On December 16, 1985, Gotti has Castellano and his bodyguard gunned down at Sparks Steak House in midtown Manhattan, and is named the new head of the Gambino family, capturing the attention of the press and the public as “the real-life Godfather”. Rival boss Vincent "The Chin" Gigante plots with Casso to eliminate Gotti, and DiCicco is killed by a car bomb that Ruggerio believes was meant for Gotti. Casso survives an unsanctioned hit, tracking down the hitman and torturing him into revealing he was sent by Ruggerio. Gotti makes peace with Gigante, and casts Ruggerio out of his crew.