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We had to get Gotti good.

# Review

This docuseries follows the attempts of legal authorities to bring down the boss of the Gambino crime family, John “The Dapper Don” Gotti. The authorities include the DOJ, the FBI, and the New York State Organized Crime Task Force (OCTF).

The docuseries documents Gotti’s rise to power and celebrity status and uses first-person accounts from the people involved on both sides of the law, such as ex-members of the Gambino family and the various agents of the different agencies that went after Gotti. The picture it paints is a man whose rise can only be described as meteoric. The film documents many of the important events during Gotti’s reign but it does leave out some details, such as the disappearance of John Favara, Gotti’s friend who accidentally struck and killed Gotti’s 12-year-old son in a car accident. I would say the docuseries focuses more on Gotti’s criminal trials than on his personal life.

The documentary covers many of the exciting ways the agencies went after Gotti, such as breaking into Gotti's club. The pacing of the docuseries, however, is a tad slow and the content is repetitive. Overall it was very interesting to see the inter-agency rivalry on who would be the first to bring down Gotti. There were many villains in the story, but Diane Giacalone has got to be the worst of them. In order to make a name for herself, she brought a very incomplete case to trial for the DOJ. As a result of her incompetency, not only did Gotti go free and gain even more notoriety, one of the chief informants for the FBI’s case, Wilfred “Willie Boy” Johnson, was murdered. Giacalone represents the worst of when law enforcement does their job, but not for the benefit of the public.

# Conclusion

An interesting look at the legal proceedings against Gotti.

# Overall rating: 6.8

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