Is this movie actually based off a book and/or real life events?

I mean it is pretty realistic. It isnt a great film, but its good if you wanna see a John Gotti movie.

Gotti is based on Jerry Capeci's book.

And I actually enjoyed it very much.

Ace

The movie's pretty good, but not great. There are several factual deviations:
1. Paul Castellano didn't order his own guy to go with Gotti on the McBratney hit.
2. Ralphie (Wigs) Galione, the guy who shot McBratney, didn't screw up--he actually saved Gotti's and Ruggiero's lives because McBratney was stronger than both of them together and was putting up a good fight. And Gotti didn't kill Wigs--he was killed in a loan shark dispute more than a year after the McBratney hit.
3. Sammy Da Bull had nothing do do with the killing of John Favara, the Gotti neighbor who accidentally ran over Gotti's son Frank.

thnx for that turnbull...i was wondering myself how accurate it was

You're welcome, GM.
The inaccuracies didn't spoil the film for me. As I said, I thought it was pretty good, mainly on the strength of the casting (except for Armand Assante, who, IMO, played Gotti with more intelligence and drive than he had in real life). But "Bugsy" is chock-full of inaccuracies, yet I regard it as an incredibly enjoyable movie that gets better with each viewing.

While 'Gotti" is one of my favorite mob movies, I have to agree with you on that point. Assante most definitely played a more intelligent, and might I add animated Gotti than what the real life Gotti really was.

Turnbull, if you really want to see a more accurate Gotti, check out 'Witness for the Mob' which is the story of Sammy the Bull. While not nearly as good as the movie 'Gotti," I must say that Tom Sizemore plays an excellent and more close to real life Gotti. I promise that you'll enjoy Sizemore's portrayal of him in that movie.


Don Cardi

Oooh, I was waiting for that...

I think that Assante is one of this generation's most underrated actors. He gave Gotti alot of gritty reality even if he gave the former Don alot more brains. I love Assante's ratatattat delivery and the way he moves his eyes from side to side when he talks to people. Made me feel uneasy just sitting in my living room.