The Wannabe (2015) User Reviews

Not so bad, it's the absolute core of a crime drama

[subxerogravity · 5/10 · 8 December 2015]

It does not get more blue collar than The Wannabe, a no trills mob movie about a Mob geeks obsession with the John Gotti trails of the early 90s.

Vincent Piazza plays the mob geek, Thomas. his performance in the movie was pretty well done. His psychotic nature just kept escalating as the movie progressed which made him entertaining to focus on.

Also like the performance of Patricia Arquette, who played Thomas' equally touched girlfriend, Rose. I felt a certain dignity to her performance that made you feel sorry for Rose instead of sad.

Overall the movie was a very disturbing tale of Thomas and Rose, a weird version of Bonnie and Clyde, in a movie that feels like a low rate version of Taxi Driver.

A decent indi film to look at.

Watch Rob The Mob instead, same story but better told and filmed

[deloudelouvain · 6/10 · 30 January 2016]

Even though the actors in The Wannabe are better known then in another movie Rob the Mob this one isn't better then Rob the Mob. Both movies are based on the same true story so you would think the facts are about the same, but it wasn't really. I found that strange. Why would the facts not be the same if it's based on a true story? Anyways, I scored Rob the Mob a seven star rating, and because I think that movie was way better then The Wannabe I score this one only a 6 star rating. It's not that it's not worth a watch but if you have the choice then I would watch Rob the Mob instead. The Wannabe is much slower and not that interesting. Well that's what I think about it.

Rob the Mob Wannabe

[kamikaze-4 · 5/10 · 28 January 2021]

If you can accept Patricia Arquette as a New Yorker with a Brooklyn brogue, you might enjoy this slow-moving look at a couple of losers who decide to rob the Mob. There was nothing new here. If you saw Rob the Mob a year earlier then you have already seen this film. The difference is Rob the Mob was more of a dark-humored comedy, and The Wannabe is dead serious. Too serious to be exact. I couldn't sympathize with the leads one bit.

Kind of depressing story of a couple of loosers

[amlegon · 3/10 · 5 May 2019]

I thought this was going to be a mafia related story. Instead, it's more about a weirdo and his pathetic life of mafia adoration. Slow paced and psichological. Depressing story of a pathetic couple of (real) characters. Took me an effort to finish it. Towards the end I just wanted them dead as soon as possible, so it could be over already.

Wannabe or Rob The Mob Your Pick !

[gbtcb · 4/10 · 28 April 2021]

The Wannabe or Rob The Mob your pick for Me Rob the Mob much better Actors.

Mob adoration in a semi true 90's tale

[t-dooley-69-386916 · 5/10 · 22 July 2017]

Thomas idolizes the Mob and especially 'the Teflon Don' – John Gotti, seeing him as a modern day Robin Hood and the incidental crimes as sort of a necessary evil – sort of thing. Anyway we join them in 1992 when Gotti is on trial and the Teflon becomes 'Velcro' as all the charges start to stick.

Now Thomas is going out with a girl of questionable intellect and indeed taste who is brilliantly played by Patricia Arquette. Desperate to become part of the Gangsta scene Thomas hatches a plan to free his idol but in so doing he sets off a chain of events that he will become useless to control.

So is it any good? Well it is very watchable but sometimes feels very small in that it is a very personal tale about – essentially- two people and how they believe their own bull. Whilst this does not detract from the entertainment it also leave unmolested the underlying issues of worshipping the worst in society. That said it is still a well made and acted film that will appeal to any who like mob lore but it is not in the same league as the 'Goodfelllas' of this world.

Fringe of Scorsese

[Icedooitle · 7/10 · 28 October 2015]

In an effort to draw maximum audience presence to the showing of "The Wannabe" at a film festival I attended, the advertisers posted almost no other name than Martin Scorsese in association with the film. This has been common with films of the horror genre. Consequently Wes Craven "presented" a whole lot of movies in his tenure that he never directed. When I found this was only a Scorsese production, I'll admit to being a little crestfallen. What I ended up seeing was a film that was appropriately "not Scorsese."

When it comes to lords of the underworld, building themselves to monolithic heights and suffering a spectacular crescendo of hubris, Scorsese can tell that story in a 3 hour marathon that never spins its wheels. The Wannabe is an anti-epic. This is a 90 minute jaunt that takes place in the fringes of an epic, the John Gotti trials. The limbo that the mob world was in during the Gotti trial of 1992 is the setting for a protagonist whose face wouldn't even be in focus in a Scorsese flick. He is so low on the criminal totem pole that he gets himself arrested almost intentionally, just for some semblance of street- cred.

The story of Thomas (Vincent Piazza) picks up just after his release, where he seems dumbfounded by the lack of respect he receives after his brief incarceration. Fewer people know his name after his release than before. He does have the swagger of the real deal, the kind that would only fool a fool. Such a fool exists in Rose (Patricia Arquette). She is fragile in sobriety, even more so emotionally. They form a relationship in the grand tradition of "Bonnie and Clyde" and "Sid and Nancy" that is both kismet and ill- advised. At a time where she desperately needs to be taken care of, Rose relishes taking care of this young nobody. Throughout their dynamic, it is easy to forgive Thomas for his obliviousness. He is too insensible to blame, and somehow too pathetic to pity. There are fewer things more difficult to watch than someone trying too hard in futility. His efforts are so romanticized that John Gotti's thugs just behold him with an air of, "What the hell do you think this is, a Scorsese movie?"

Thomas's pluck always seems tied up in the fate of Gotti, a man he reveres but has never met. Once Gotti is convicted, Thomas reacts like a super-fan watching a World Series lost in game 7. Any comradery he hoped he attained during the trial is gone. How Thomas reacts to his exclusion becomes a story worthy of mob-lore. Without a dog in the race, Rose follows Thomas headlong into delusional grandeur. That this journey is doomed is obvious from its inception. The reason it has the longevity that it does is the key to the whole film. He is such a no-name he could commit almost any crime without recognition. This is pathetic for the simple reason that his motive is notoriety.

The supporting cast gives this film the feeling of a big production supporting a small one. Thugs from Scorsese movies play tired roles that are more realistic than they would be in their large scale counter parts. The cheap style this story is told in compliments the personalities of its lead characters. Scorsese presenting this film is like John Gotti giving a nod to all the wannabes.

Interesting?

[wtmerrett · 4/10 · 4 March 2017]

I am not sure what to think about this movie. It shows an obsessed man trying everything he can to worm his way into the Gambino Crime family in New York in 1992. He is obviously delusional and focused on his quest and gets involved with a women who enables him instead of helping him find a way out of his fantasy. The story follows Thomas as he spirals out of control on his way down the rabbit hole. With the Scorsese name attached this got made but the writer/director Nick Sandow did not do anyone any favours as this could have been much better. I usually do not like it when the same person writes and directs as they are too close to the subject and can't see obvious errors that a fresh set of eyes might catch. Plus, they often fall in love with their writing and leave in certain scenes and scenarios that don't necessarily move the story along. If it does not advance the story...leave it out.

A very good movie that really makes you relate to the lead character, something that is usually hard to do in a mafia movie

[cosmo_tiger · 8/10 · 23 December 2015]

"Don't write the history books yet." Thomas (Piazza) has become obsessed with the trial of John Gotti and thinks it is his mission to find a way to get him off. When his plan falls through He tries to find another way to become a wise-guy. The only way he can think to do this is to begin robbing mafia hangouts. Together him and his wife Rose (Arquette) complete a string of hold-ups that finally gets him noticed. I am a huge fan of any type of mafia movie. There was a fantastic movie called Rob The Mob that came out a few years ago that dealt with this same story. Like that one this one is also very good and I really liked it. There were some differences between the two but the biggest one was that Thomas was played as someone who talks a big game, but is different when he is in action in this movie. To me that little change really added to the realism of this and added to the overall feel of the movie. The acting is really good in this, but Piazza's portrayal is really what makes the movie and I highly recommend this. Overall, a very good movie that really makes you relate to Thomas, something that is usually hard to do in a mafia movie. I give this a high B+.

9 out of 10 and 5 out of 10 at the same time

[chrishax · 9/10 · 7 July 2017]

So seems I ought to write my first review on IMDb for this movie's seriously overlooked cult-potential..... It's a film for 'cineastes' with more to do with subjectivity and indulgence than the mafia...

Film students from the 1960s through the 1990s ought to love it - in no particular order there's hints of Godard, Rohmer, early Scorsese, da Sica, Tati, Tarantino et al.

So in terms of 'subject' the film is actually ABOUT film, about subjectivity and self-indulgence, belonging to a family of cultural reflections like The King of Comedy, The Dreamers, Harold and Maude, Dog Day Afternoon, The Master or Be Kind Rewind.

But is it good enough, is it entertaining enough to keep the company of the genres it pastiches? Probably not quite, but maybe it's today's society that has moved on making irony more important than hope. Or maybe it's the art film that has moved on, now that most technical innovations like jump-cutting are now back-in-the-day. Or maybe the script is a little loose, and the technical innovation a little meagre.

So the film can be rated at 5/10 it's a 'wotever' experience, or else at 9/10 it's an early film by the next Tarantino, or an old-fashioned film like Truffaut that will mature with age.

Remembering there are still some French women that adore Truffaut as a national treasure 50 years on, it would be lazy NOT to watch this movie, if you know something about film history.

Very Good.

[ruki444 · 8/10 · 31 July 2021]

This is a well-done film about a couple of petty criminals (not too bright) that end up robbing social club card games, supposedly to get money so they can move to Hawaii. It's well-acted; a good character study. It's based on the lives of Thomas and Rosemarie Uva, whose spree started in 1991 and ended in December 1992. Another director did the same story as the movie, Rob the Mob.

Really Fun

[NickCAuthor · 9/10 · 24 March 2021]

This was really fun to watch. The acting was good. The script was well done. I recommend this movie.

Wannabe is terrific

[frank-sigona · 8/10 · 3 February 2021]

It's not the Godfather nor is it Goodfellas. Wannabe stands on its own as an excellent character study. Amara plays Thomas, a wannabe mobster. Arnette is Rose, his supporting wife. Enjoy this movie for what it is.