Boss of Bosses

Just when I thought I was done with mob movies they pull me back in. I caught a small piece of 'Boss of Bosses' purely by chance and Chazz Palminteri's presence was enough to watch the whole thing. A lot of known faces in the cast help as does a streamlined 90 minute runtime, but the story is neither new or all that interesting. Toronto, Canada fills in as NYC for budgetary reasons much like it did for similar tv made 'Gotti'.

Paul Castellano (Palminteri) rises among the ranks of the Gambino family due to smarts and being a top earner. Named as successor he becomes boss in the late 70's and directs his men to move into profitable areas (racketeering) that attract less heat while forbidding any involvement in drugs. This ruffles feathers while openly in an adulteress relationship with his maid ruffles even more. Meanwhile the FBI are just waiting for an opportunity to pounce and bring the whole deck of cards down.

Chazz is really the glue here, but all the major players are known actors. Jay O. Sanders, Clancy Brown and Daniel Benzali as FBI. Richard Foronjy (Carlito's Way), Mark Margolis (Scarface, Breaking Bad) and Dayton Callie (Deadwood, Sons of Anarchy) as fellow high ranking mobsters. Steven Bauer and casting of Yani Gellman as the young Paul who resembles Chazz is solid too. There is some dramatic license, but most of the real life tale is on point.

If you enjoy Chazz or have lowered expectations there might be enough to sink your teeth into 'Boss of Bosses'. Due to all the movies and true crime I've watched Paul Castellano's tale wasn't new to me. So while it does a decent job at capturing his major events (becoming boss, affair with his maid, clash of styles / ideals with the younger generation of guys and assassination) none of it is gripping. Seasoned director Dwight H. Little (Halloween 4, Murder at 1600) keeps the film moving at all times though.

This story has been modified for the screen without a doubt. For the assassination scene two eight-round semi-autos fired twenty-two shots with no visible reloads, leaving shell casings as evidence all over the place? Okay, so I have high standards for docudramas. The book this was based on was pretty good. It did not portray Paul Castellano as sympathetically as was done in the movie. For those with an interest in this story and no time to read it's okay, but don't kid yourself that this is the whole story.

Pretty average for the type of film it is. Palminteri has his usual commanding performance, yet even he cannot get far beyond the mediocre dialog and the overly dramatic and stereotypical plot devices. In fact, he and the very good supporting cast is what pulls this up to a watchable level.

Big mistake to show the killing of Paul Castellano up front, then the rest as a sort of flashback. Most of us know he eventually dies anyway, but it's a completely pointless way of handling it. The maid/mistress is not that much of a sympathetic character as she gives in too easily to becoming a mistress, but that's probably what actually happened.

It's awfully tiring to see these mafioso thugs being constantly portrayed in a flattering manner, using the old excuse of poor upbringing and wrong friends as the reasons for their life of crime, and then of course they are always generous to the downtrodden. But these films never remind us that the downtrodden are the ones they use to gain their riches.

Recommended only for Palminteri fans and/or those who just have to see all gangster films ever made.

"Boss of Bosses" isn't anything to get too excited about. When I first saw the promos for it, I was excited, because I have always been interested in La Costa Nostra of the United States. I found these movies have many differences between the book and other sources. Half of the conversation of Paul Castellano and the FBI agents never actually took place. If you see the crime photos, I believe that you never see a bracelet for the Don's mistress, and in the murder of Paul, John Gotti is seen with another man, not Salvatore Gravano. The performances are not to be viewed that highly either, the actor who played Gotti doesn't even looks like him, and Chezz Palmetiri, is a little shorter.

all i will say is that this movie was decent, nothing more, nothing less. it's not exactly anything to get excited about as it is no more than average. the whole way through the film, i got the impression it was trying to copy other mafia films. for example the flashback to when chazz was a young hood reminded me so much of the first half of once upon a time in america and the trip to florida resembled that of donnie brasco.

nevertheless, chazz was brilliant and i would recommend this 'movie' to any fans of him, its just a shame he was reduced to this when he far more capable of more challenging roles. it was also nice to see steven bauer but a shame he had such a small role in a virtually unheard of movie.

C+