Get Gotti Review: Now streaming on Netflix, the three-part documentary Series on John Gotti, one of the most powerful dangerous crime bosses in the US, comes from the makers of Fear City. Presenting both sides of the coin in this long-running cat-and-mouse-chase, the series follows the FBI in pursuit of nabbing the infamous mob boss known for his flamboyance. It has been directed by Sebastian Smith.

The investigative true-crime docu-series first begins with the former mob boss Paul Castellano’s murder broad daylight. Even with suspicions directly pointing at John Gotti as his killer, the eccentric man escapes the clutches of the government and goes on to become the head of the Gambino crime family, and eventually New York’s most wanted gangster who just won’t be convicted of his crimes regardless of what the law enforcement officials try.

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-Get Gotti Netflix Docu-Series Review Contains Spoilers-

Get Gotti Review

The Get Gotti documentary employs state-of-the-art techniques to liven up the visuals of the three episodes spelling out the larger-than-life case of the Gambino crime family boss, also commonly known as the “Teflon Don”, churning out a result that bridges the gap between the black-and-white archaic theme and time and the contemporary modernity and its many colours. The series first does all it can to build Gotti’s case as the self-proclaimed and believing Hollywood A-lister, he always presented himself to be on the outside.

What instantly takes you aback are his growing connection with big names from the film industry and how he count on an evidently villainous man like him. With many big name backing him up, John Amos even reasoned his liking for the mafia boss because of how he carried himself. Each episode meticulously drives a conversation about how this man wasn’t like any mob boss seen before and how he made himself out to be a public enigma with a fan-following.

His rather suave and flamboyant way of orderly and outwardly presenting himself as this dapper “gentleman” sporting high-end suits and arrogant panache wasn’t singularly of his own making. The media equally inflated this narrative and his ego back then. Yet the story is so much more than just about his persona. It also extends to this latent rivalry between two law enforcement agencies – FBI and the Organized Crime Task Force (OCTF) – that refused to work together and separately schemed to nail him down, which never worked in their favour, as could’ve been expected.

So there’s not just the head-to-head collision with the mafia man, but also these two agencies working separately and racing forth to catch him first, and their consecutive failures to get him. In this way, there’s a build-up in the pace of how the whole from each side is delivered to us, and also why the finale reins in an even more satisfying climax even though these facts are already out in the open.

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Old footage builds up his case as this enigmatic “superhero” – with the instance of reporter Barbara Nevins Taylor, likening him to a “Marvel superhero before there were Marvel movies”. Through moments like this we ultimately come down to the end which proves that Gotti himself played a huge role in downfall by hitting it too big with the media – being featured on a magazine cover and whatnot. However, not a lot of time is spent in critiquing the moves made by media – the fourth pillar of Democracy that should’ve supposedly been covering his name objectively, but it seems like they were equally enjoying turning him into this big-shot name as if he were a celebrity.

These three episodes then leave this up open for discussion and for us to think for ourselves and question why such “a vulgar thug” had been raised to the pedestal like so when he’d earned no rights or cause for being glamourised or worshipped like that.

The best and most appeasing moments of the documentary then shape out in the way each of the two agencies’ representatives take their time to divest the details of their numerous operations and plans to pin Gotti. It equally hurts us to see them fail, but in the end, its the same period of waiting and patience that makes the victory all the more sweet.

Even with John Gotti as the supposed “Dapper Don” and mastermind of the operations of organised crime back then, the documentary doesn’t put up a fish-eyed narrow focus on just Gotti. By bringing in both sides of the story – the FBI and the mafia personnel directly involved in the action at the time – the documentary builds up a riveting a balance of this grand-scale scheme.

Much like the title suggests, the series delves into the elaborate plan of getting Gotti for good. The visuals don’t particularly circulate around the court room scenes, rather, the series keeps it away from that side of such technicalities, and keeps the narrative fast-paced, fuelled by movement all around in terms of what the agents were doing to bring Gotti to trial.

The musical score supports the ’80s world-building image and goes along well with the intriguing pace of the three episodes that keep you invested in the cat-and-mouse-chase throughout. The editing equally meshes well with the score and helps join the dots for us, and at times, even summarises certain pointers for us to keep with the race.

The old black-and-white footage and other audio tapes are rewound up for us to feel the essence of being in the midst of the action. Anthony Ruggiano’s primary involvement and direct interviews help offer an insight into Gotti’s side of the story. Many such true crime documentaries usually evade such inclusion of all sides of the picture, and this is where Get Gotti wins us over. Moreover, the production value is immaculate with the inclusion of paraphernalia highlighting the old era setting

Get Gotti Series: Final Thoughts

Running in circles with the law enforcement officials in attempts to bring down the mob boss who just won’t be convicted palpably brings up the tension and makes us feel for them. And exactly for the same, because of how feelingly the narrative and each tie is brought together, in the final moments, there’s nothing more satisfying than when the law enforcement’s diligence finally pays off.

Since it’s a detailed account of everything they did back then over and over, the nitty-gritty information can be a bit too much, as it always is in such cases, but otherwise, the series really does take you along for a ride. The sweet victory is deeply felt especially because the officials’ frustration can be dug into too.

Get Gotti 2023 is now streaming on Netflix.

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