Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
Vincenzo Amato | ... | Richie | |
Patricia Arquette | ... | Rose | |
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Nicholas Belleas | ... | Stunt Performer |
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Jay Bulger | ... | Eric Roberts |
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John Buscemi | ... | Sausage Vendor |
Stan Carp | ... | Oxygen Mask | |
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Lawrence Cioppa | ... | Card Player #1 |
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Dario Cipani | ... | Kid with Sparkler |
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Christine Cornell | ... | Christine |
Adriana DeMeo | ... | Annie | |
Doug E. Doug | ... | Twin | |
Chris Camaj | ... | Sallyboy (as Chris 'The Eagle' Camaj) | |
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Duccio Fabbri | ... | Cesare Staderini |
Michael Gasparro | ... | Newsstand Vendor | |
Neal Huff | ... | Judge Glasser |
Obsessed with mob culture, and desperate to fit in, Thomas sets out to fix the 1992 trial of John Gotti. He believes if the plan is executed, it will put him at the center of all that he idolizes. The plot is foiled, setting off events worthy of mob lore. The Wannabe intertwines real people and true events, past and present, with fantasy.
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.