John Travolta has had a very strange career, appearing in numerous films of wildly varying quality throughout the past six decades. For my money, John Travolta’s most hilariously baffling film is 2018’s Gotti, which follows the real-life story of mob hitman turned boss John Gotti, as he rises through the ranks of the criminal underworld.
Though the film offers some very intriguing subject matter, the production was clearly not handled with very much care or attention to detail, leaving Gotti with an absolutely staggering zero percent critic score on Rotten Tomatoes.
Doomed From The Start
It’s not very difficult to see just why Gotti was received so poorly upon release, as the film suffered numerous behind-the-scenes issues. For starters, John Gotti’s family was deeply involved in the production, meaning it would be incredibly difficult or wholly impossible to depict the famous mobster with any level of critique or objectivity. Before John Travolta signed on to the leading role, Gotti underwent numerous casting and script changes, and even rotated through a handful of filmmakers before landing on a final director.
Mistakes Were Made
The film was also severely lacking in attention to detail, including one now-famous scene where a Mexican flag was used in place of an Italian flag, which needed to be adjusted in post-production using CGI. Gotti was written by the screenwriting duo of Leo Rossi and Lem Dobbs, and directed by Entourage star Kevin Connolly. As stated, John Travolta leads the cast as Gotti himself, alongside an ensemble of relative unknowns including Spencer Rocco Lofranco, Kelly Preston, Stacy Keach, Pruitt Taylor Vince, William DeMeo, and Chris Kerson.
Joe Pesci Dodged A Bullet
Before John Travolta took on the role as John Gotti, numerous other actors were considered, including Sylvester Stallone, James Franco, Channing Tatum, and Preacher‘s Dominic Cooper. Famed mob movie performer Joe Pesci was initially cast to portray Angelo Ruggiero in the film, though the role was mysteriously stripped from him months after the contract was signed, and after Pesci had put on over 30 pounds to resemble the real-life mobster.
Nominated For A Golden Raspberry Award
It seems that just about everybody other than John Travolta knew that Gotti was going to be a major box office bomb. Lionsgate apparently purchased the distribution rights to the film in 2017, only to sell them back to the producers a few short months later, clearly indicating that execs at the entertainment company thought the product was radioactive. Despite this setback, producers still saw fit to premiere the movie at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival, to an immediate chorus of terrible press.
Gotti was famously derided by critics and audiences alike, losing millions at the box office and turning Travolta into a laughing stock for the remainder of the year. John Travolta was even nominated for Worst Actor at the Golden Raspberry Awards for his portrayal of John Gotti, ultimately losing to former president Donald Trump for his appearance in the god-awful documentary Death of a Nation.
Worse Than Battlefield Earth
GFR SCORE
At the end of the day, Gotti turned out to be a classic “so-bad-it’s-good” watch, in the same vein as The Room or Troll 2. If you’re interested in seeing the messy John Travolta vehicle for yourself, Gotti is currently streaming for free on Tubi. Just be sure not to laugh too hard while watching the mob movie, lest one of your tough-guy friends menacingly begins to question “what am I funny? How am I funny? Funny like a clown, I amuse you?”
