Witness to the Mob

All in all Witness to the Mob is superior to the HBO fairy tale called Gotti - but the former fails at what the latter did right: the portrayal of Sammy Gravano. Strangely, it seems that most filmmakers think they need a hero or at least a resemblance thereof. In HBO's Gotti it was Gotti, a charismatic, smart leader with comprehensible morals, whose downfall was the egoism of his underlings. In WttM, Sammy the Bull is portrayed as a misunderstood, dutiful voice of reason and overall goody two-shoes. Both portrayals are as far from the truth as it gets.

WttM shows Gotti the way he was: an egomaniacal braggart with delusions of grandeur. (I am at a loss as to how some folks can criticize Sizemore's take on Gotti which unlike Assante's is very close to the original.) A blend of these two movies would yield *the* authoritative adaptation of the subject. In direct comparison, though, WttM takes less liberties with the story, which is why I vastly prefer it over HBO's version.

On its own WttM is a very enjoyable LCN movie - even more so for those who are interested in the subject, provided they can generously overlook the factual inaccuracies.

This movie is tragically miscasted. And though many reviewers claim that this movie is closer to the truth than HBO's Gotti was, it is inferior in every way.

It all starts with Turturro. Someone here claims he looks the part of Gravano, but that just ain't true. He's far too dark skinned, and though he has Italian ancestors he has always looked more Mexican to me. It also has to do with his role in NYPD Blue. Turturro doesn't play the part of a made mafia man. He always looks timid, shy and a bit anxious (same for his role in NYPD Blue). The supporting cast is full with the usual suspects you see in mafia films, and most have got their known roles in the Sopranos. But that also makes it a problem, a supporting cast that clearly overshadows the lead role just doesn't work. I don't know about Tom Sizemore, I love the actor, and he does a decent job. But Assante was better, he really embodied Gotti.

It all doesn't work. And the story may be closer to the truth. But remember that 'truth' is a strange concept in this context. The truth is based on a single testimony and some investigative work. In my opinion movie makers have some freedom in interpreting such truths for their work. HBO's Gotti just works much better.

As someone who is borderline obsessed with the Gotti/Gravano story, I have read nearly every book, and seen nearly every movie and documentary on the subject. That being said, I feel this film is vastly superior to HBO's "Gotti", not only in production value but in taking less liberties with the story. The movie pretty much follows Sammy the Bull's book "Underboss" to a T. I feel this is pretty accurate, except it portrays Sammy as too much of a saint. "Gotti" does the same for John Gotti, of course, and it also shows Sammy to be kissing John's ass a little too much. The production, costumes, acting, music, and attention to detail are all far superior in this film.

As far as the acting goes, Nick Turturro does a good job as Sammy, although he's a little too stocky and way too dark-skinned. Sizemore is excellent as Gotti, his performance probably at least equaling Armand Assante's portrayal in "Gotti". I much prefer Abe Vigoda here as Paul Castellano to the actor who played him in the other film, and one of my favorite actresses, Debi Mazar does fine as Sammy's wife Debra. The rest of the cast are mostly Sopranos actors, many of whom played different parts in "Gotti". Michael Imperioli, who wasn't in the other film, does a fine job here as Sammy's longtime friend Louie Milito.

All in all, this is certainly no "Goodfellas" but in my opinion is still very good and much better (and more accurate) than "Gotti".

All mafia films seem to be excellent. They just have that edge, tension and suspense to them which bulids up during the movie and then which is all released at the climax. Witness to the Mob is no exception. However what was unusual, being a mafia film, was that I cant remember any swear word said during the whole film nor was there hardly any blood. Most of the killings were done with quick, clean silencers. Violence was very limited. But it did not detract much from being a good well done movie which will keep the viewer's interest from start to finish. Tom Sizemore is the highlight and is just great, especially when he loses his temper, and is perfect for his role. I would defnitely recommend Witness to the Mob to all mafia film lovers. 8/10.

While arguably not as good as his book or podcast, Witness to the Mob is still a good adaptation of the life of Sammy Gravano.

An all-star cast comprised of the actors that basically acted in every mafia flick in that era, who most people will recognize from the Sopranos. Nicholas Turturro's acting skills are decent enough, but looks nothing like "the Bull." Not exactly a neutral telling of these events either, since this is adapted from his autobiography. Even taking those into account, this is still a decent-to-good film.

If you want Sammy's side of the story in movie form, this is pretty good, personally.