Are "Wannabe" Producers Aware of "Rob the Mob"?

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The film “The Wannabe” is "centered around the 1992 John Gotti trial in New York City" but has more to do with the short-lived lukewarm HBO series Boardwalk Empire than any mob boss.

The producers don't seem to realize they are remaking a film released only last year called Rob the Mob. Or they found out too late so they added a "twist" to even further distance their cinematic effort from the true account of the married couple who robbed mob social clubs for a few months in the early 1990s. Ultimately the two were brutally murdered in broad daylight by Mafia shooters.



"The Wannabe" drew much of its talent from two HBO series

Martin Scorsese's name is attached but only as producer.
The stars in The Wannabe -- not to be confused with the trifling Wannabes -- are Patricia Arquette, a Boardwalk Empire veteran, and Michael Imperioli, who of course starred in Goodfellas and The Sopranos. (He's a fine actor and his Christopher Moltisanti will not be forgotten soon.)

One of the best Sopranos' episodes, in our opinion, was Pine Barrens.


Also starring is Vincent Piazza, who played Charlie Lucky Luciano on Boardwalk Empire. 

We assume that when the producers realized the Uva story  had been told a year ago,  they added a kink.

As noted:

The first thing Thomas does after meeting Rose is take her to the Gotti trial and convinces her that the jury can be rigged. After making a deal with the “brother” of a jurist in order to make sure that Gotti is released, he runs back to the mafia and tells him about this situation. He is later devastated when he finds out that the plug he thought he had, was just a fan watching the Gotti trial and tried to rob them all. He breaks down and for the first time, Rose sees him at his most vulnerable state. 
Both Rose and Thomas have their own dark secrets that are revealed throughout the movie and play a role in their relationship. These secrets surprisingly are what make their relationship so strong even when at times it seemed like everything went from bad to worse. Rose has always had a empty space in her heart because she never felt accepted  until she met Thomas, who changed her life and filled a void. The story follows the couple who falls into a downward spiral when they start robbing New York Mafia social clubs. The film, executive produced by Martin Scorsese, depicts a world when crime bosses were neighborhood kings and young men aspired to be a part of their world to gain the social status. 
Based on true events, The Wannabe tells the iconic mob story from a new perspective: an outsider’s point-of-view.

We stole that from The Source. The writing is horrid, too, but we're lazy today... Even this lackluster report tried to hide the film's major plot point.

The Uvas 2.0. That's Patricia Arquette....


Rob the Mob, directed by Oscar-nominee Raymond de Felitta starred Michael Pitt, Nina Arianda, Andy Garcia and Ray Romano.

Garcia, playing a mob boss that may have been inspired by Joe Massino (who really cares) unbelievably wore a full beard -- we couldn't help but think he did this to subliminally distance the film from the woebegone Godfather Part III, which of all things made a fictional ex-mob boss's crime family the protectors of Christendom, avenging the Pope's murder.

The ending was something out of Monty Python or Mel Brooks.....

 

What were you thinking FFC?

There were a few great scenes in the film, and we honestly thought it was a fine effort that failed, but the great director took a risk... credit him for that....

Rob the Mob was watchable but didn't strain itself too much to be true to what's known to have happened when Thomas and Rose Marie Uva, a married couple, made the foolhardy, fatal decision to rob Mafia social clubs in Little Italy, Queens and Brooklyn from the summer of 1992 to Christmas Eve 1992, when the two were killed.

In nearly every robbery, 21-year-old getaway driver Rose Marie waited in the car while Tommy, hefting an Uzi, simply walked into the clubs, the doors of which were open.

The wiseguys, despite what had happened to them, nevertheless voiced their admiration for Rose Marie's skills as a getaway driver.

When will they learn that in the mob, truth is indeed stranger than fiction. Method acting and star power won't save a film. A good script is needed first.

It's been too long since anyone's made a decent mob flick....

The Uvas robbed the mob...


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