‘Gomorrah’ review

Release Date: 02/27/09

The Italian film Gomorra, was the one film out of the Foreign Language category that I was most excited to see this past year. With top critics calling it, “The Greatest Mafia movie ever made,” and “the best Mafia movie since The Godfather,” it’s hard to resist. Being steadily compared to the likes of Scorsese’s or even Coppola’s masterpieces is the highest of compliments, but in the end, after I actually watched it, I just felt deflated.  The film unsuccessfully grabbed nor kept my full attention at any given time.  This is not in the same class as Goodellas and is certainly not in the class of The Godfather….parts I or II.

It is, however, an extremely realistic movie, about the in’s and out’s of The Camorras organized crime operations.  The Camorras are the biggest Mafia family, in the heart of the most crime ridden region in the world, Naples, Italy.  The multi plot style of the film follows Five main stories.  None necessarily connected to the other.

The film opens with two wannabe Tony Montana’s who are after one thing and one thing only, to become the biggest crime boss of crime boss’s.  It then slowly changes back and forth between four others.  An aging money runner whose both useless and out of date. A recent college graduate who lands a premiere job working for a powerful man who’s tycoon-like-enterprise consists of buying up huge portions of land and disposing enormous amounts of toxic waste.  An extremely talented seamstress or dressmaker, who puts his life in danger in order to earn a little extra by teaching in an oriental factory.  Finally, a young boy who’s life long dream is to become a member of the crime family.  None of these stories were able to keep my interest for any amount of time, throughout. At times, I thought the dialogue and the screenplay as a whole, was at fault.

Director Matteo Garrone definately took an ‘okay’ screenplay and did the best he could with it.  There are some amazing shots throughout the film and there are a handful of good suspense filled moments.  I admit, being unfamiliar with the book, and the situation over in Naples, perhaps puts me at a disadantage but nonetheless Gomorra did not work for me at all.

IMDB: 7.2/10

Rottentomatoes: 85%

MovieWiseGuys: 6.5/10