''Mobsters'' is a 1991 American
biographical
A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or c ...
crime drama film
In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definitions of", in Ca ...
directed by Michael Karbelnikoff. It details the creation of
The Commission. Set in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
, taking place from 1917 to 1931, it is a semi-fictitious account of the rise of
Charles "Lucky" Luciano
Charles "Lucky" Luciano (, ; born Salvatore Lucania ; November 24, 1897 – January 26, 1962) was an Italian-born gangster who operated mainly in the United States. Luciano started his criminal career in the Five Points gang and was instrument ...
,
Meyer Lansky
Meyer Lansky (born Maier Suchowljansky; July 4, 1902 – January 15, 1983), known as the "Mob's Accountant", was an American organized crime figure who, along with his associate Charles "Lucky" Luciano, was instrumental in the development of the ...
,
Frank Costello
Frank Costello (; born Francesco Castiglia; ; January 26, 1891 – February 18, 1973) was an Italian-American crime boss of the Luciano crime family. In 1957, Costello survived an assassination attempt ordered by Vito Genovese and carried out by ...
, and
Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel. The film stars
Christian Slater
Christian Michael Leonard Slater (born August 18, 1969) is an American actor and producer. He made his film debut with a leading role in ''The Legend of Billie Jean'' (1985) and gained wider recognition for his breakthrough role as Jason "J.D." D ...
as Luciano,
Patrick Dempsey
Patrick Galen Dempsey (born January 13, 1966) is an American actor and race car driver. He is best known for his role as neurosurgeon Derek "McDreamy" Shepherd in ''Grey's Anatomy''. He had early success as an actor, starring in a number of fi ...
as Lansky,
Costas Mandylor as Costello and
Richard Grieco
Richard John Grieco Jr. (born March 23, 1965) is an American actor and former fashion model. He played Detective Dennis Booker in the popular Fox series ''21 Jump Street'' (1988–89) and its spin-off ''Booker'' (1989–90). He has also starre ...
as Siegel, with
Michael Gambon,
Anthony Quinn
Manuel Antonio Rodolfo Quinn Oaxaca (April 21, 1915 – June 3, 2001), known professionally as Anthony Quinn, was a Mexican-American actor. He was known for his portrayal of earthy, passionate characters "marked by a brutal and elemental v ...
,
Lara Flynn Boyle
Lara Flynn Boyle (born March 24, 1970) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Donna Hayward in the television series ''Twin Peaks'' (1990–1991). After portraying Stacy in Penelope Spheeris's comedy ''Wayne's World'' (1992), ...
, and
F. Murray Abraham
F. Murray Abraham (born Murray Abraham; October 24, 1939) is an American actor. Known for his roles on stage and screen, he came to prominence for his acclaimed leading role as Antonio Salieri in the drama film '' Amadeus'' (1984) for which he wo ...
in supporting roles.
Synopsis
The film recounts the rise of four Infamous gangsters: Lucky Luciano, Meyer Lansky, Bugsy Siegel, and Frank Costello. The four begin as members of youth gangs on the streets of
New York, fighting and hustling as they learn the rules of the street and form strong friendships that benefit them as they grow into their teenage years. The beginning of
Prohibition
Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcohol ...
provides them with an entry into organized crime, and under the mentorship of seasoned gangsters such as
Arnold Rothstein
Arnold Rothstein (January 17, 1882 – November 4, 1928), nicknamed "The Brain", was an American racketeer, crime boss, businessman, and gambler in New York City. Rothstein was widely reputed to have organized corruption in professional athletic ...
, they build up a lucrative
bootlegging empire.
Despite their success, the four come into conflict with the established leaders of the
Mafia
"Mafia" is an informal term that is used to describe criminal organizations that bear a strong similarity to the original “Mafia”, the Sicilian Mafia and Italian Mafia. The central activity of such an organization would be the arbitration of d ...
, who dislike the idea of working with other criminal organizations to maximize profits and compete with each other for power and influence. Believing that the Mafia must restructure itself in order to thrive, Luciano and Lansky recruit Siegel and Costello to eliminate their bosses and assume control, setting up the
Commission and dividing the New York underworld between
five families
The Five Families refers to five major New York City organized crime families of the Italian American Mafia formed in 1931 by Salvatore Maranzano following his victory in the Castellammarese War.
Maranzano reorganized the Italian American gangs ...
.
Cast
*
Christian Slater
Christian Michael Leonard Slater (born August 18, 1969) is an American actor and producer. He made his film debut with a leading role in ''The Legend of Billie Jean'' (1985) and gained wider recognition for his breakthrough role as Jason "J.D." D ...
as
Charlie "Lucky" Luciano
*
Patrick Dempsey
Patrick Galen Dempsey (born January 13, 1966) is an American actor and race car driver. He is best known for his role as neurosurgeon Derek "McDreamy" Shepherd in ''Grey's Anatomy''. He had early success as an actor, starring in a number of fi ...
as
Meyer Lansky
Meyer Lansky (born Maier Suchowljansky; July 4, 1902 – January 15, 1983), known as the "Mob's Accountant", was an American organized crime figure who, along with his associate Charles "Lucky" Luciano, was instrumental in the development of the ...
*
Costas Mandylor as
Frank Costello
Frank Costello (; born Francesco Castiglia; ; January 26, 1891 – February 18, 1973) was an Italian-American crime boss of the Luciano crime family. In 1957, Costello survived an assassination attempt ordered by Vito Genovese and carried out by ...
*
Richard Grieco
Richard John Grieco Jr. (born March 23, 1965) is an American actor and former fashion model. He played Detective Dennis Booker in the popular Fox series ''21 Jump Street'' (1988–89) and its spin-off ''Booker'' (1989–90). He has also starre ...
as
Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel
*
F. Murray Abraham
F. Murray Abraham (born Murray Abraham; October 24, 1939) is an American actor. Known for his roles on stage and screen, he came to prominence for his acclaimed leading role as Antonio Salieri in the drama film '' Amadeus'' (1984) for which he wo ...
as
Arnold Rothstein
Arnold Rothstein (January 17, 1882 – November 4, 1928), nicknamed "The Brain", was an American racketeer, crime boss, businessman, and gambler in New York City. Rothstein was widely reputed to have organized corruption in professional athletic ...
*
Michael Gambon as
Don Maranzano
*
Anthony Quinn
Manuel Antonio Rodolfo Quinn Oaxaca (April 21, 1915 – June 3, 2001), known professionally as Anthony Quinn, was a Mexican-American actor. He was known for his portrayal of earthy, passionate characters "marked by a brutal and elemental v ...
as
Don Masseria
*
Lara Flynn Boyle
Lara Flynn Boyle (born March 24, 1970) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Donna Hayward in the television series ''Twin Peaks'' (1990–1991). After portraying Stacy in Penelope Spheeris's comedy ''Wayne's World'' (1992), ...
as Mara Motes
*
Chris Penn
Christopher Shannon Penn (October 10, 1965 – January 24, 2006) was an American actor. He was the brother of actor Sean Penn and musician Michael Penn. Noted as a skilled character actor from a prominent acting dynasty, he was typically cast a ...
as
Tommy Reina
*
Nicholas Sadler as
Mad Dog Coll
Vincent "Mad Dog" Coll (born Uinseann Ó Colla, July 20, 1908 – February 8, 1932) was an Irish-American mob hitman in the 1920s and early 1930s in New York City. Coll gained notoriety for the allegedly accidental killing of a young child dur ...
*
Andy Romano
Andrew Romano (June 15, 1941 – September 14, 2022) was an American actor, known for playing "J.D.", an outlaw motorcyclist and right-hand henchman of the character Eric von Zipper (played by Harvey Lembeck) in the 1960s Beach Party movies (wh ...
as Antonio Luciano
*
Robert Z'Dar
Robert James Zdarsky (June 3, 1950 – March 30, 2015), better known by his stage name Robert Z'Dar, was an American character actor and film producer, best known for his role as officer Matt Cordell in the cult horror film ''Maniac Cop'' and it ...
as Rocco
*
Frank Collison
Frank Collison (born February 14, 1950) is an American actor known to television audiences as the hapless telegrapher Horace Bing in the series ''Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman''.
Early life
Collison was born in Evanston, Illinois, the son of Peg, ...
as Catania
*
Rodney Eastman
Rodney Eastman (born July 20, 1967) is a Canadian actor best known for his role of Joey Crusel in '' A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors'' and '' A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master''. He is also a musician in a band named Kin ...
as Joey
*
Joe Viterelli
Joseph Viterelli (March 10, 1937 – January 28, 2004) was an American actor, best remembered for playing Italian-American mobsters. He portrayed Jelly in ''Analyze This'' (1999) and ''Analyze That'' (2002).
Early life
Viterelli was born on Marc ...
as
Joe Profaci
Giuseppe "Joe" Profaci (; October 2, 1897 – June 6, 1962) was an Italian-born New York City Cosa Nostra boss who was the founder of what became the Colombo crime family. Established in 1928, this was the last of the Five Families to be organi ...
*
Titus Welliver
Titus B. Welliver (born March 12, 1962) is an American actor. He is best known for his portrayals of the Man in Black in ''Lost'', Silas Adams in '' Deadwood'', Jimmy O’Phelan in ''Sons of Anarchy'', and the title role in the television seri ...
as
Al Capone
Reception
On
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, the film holds an approval rating of 6% based on 32 reviews. The website's critics consensus reads: 'Despite an abundance of style and some big names, ''Mobsters'' can't escape its empty plotting, numbing violence, and Gangster Movie 101 concepts.' Audiences polled by
CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale.
''
Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' wrote that "''Mobsters'' resembles a cart-before-the-horse case of putting marketing ahead of film-making, as the seemingly can't-miss premise of teen-heartthrob gangsters gets lost in self-important direction, a shoddy script and muddled storytelling."
According to
Roger Ebert, the movie's violence and bloodshed are so far over the top that 'they undermine the rest of the film, and approach parody'; he gave it two and a half out of four stars.
Both
Anthony Quinn
Manuel Antonio Rodolfo Quinn Oaxaca (April 21, 1915 – June 3, 2001), known professionally as Anthony Quinn, was a Mexican-American actor. He was known for his portrayal of earthy, passionate characters "marked by a brutal and elemental v ...
and
Christian Slater
Christian Michael Leonard Slater (born August 18, 1969) is an American actor and producer. He made his film debut with a leading role in ''The Legend of Billie Jean'' (1985) and gained wider recognition for his breakthrough role as Jason "J.D." D ...
were nominated for
Razzie Award
The Golden Raspberry Awards (also known as the Razzies and Razzie Awards) is a parody award show honoring the worst of cinematic under-achievements. Co-founded by UCLA film graduates and film industry veterans John J. B. Wilson and Mo Murphy, ...
s as Worst Supporting Actor for their performances, but lost to
Dan Aykroyd for ''
Nothing But Trouble''.
Slater said he was hoping that the film would be like the much more successful ''
Bugsy'', but this did not happen: 'Our movie ended up in bits and pieces all over the world," he said. "They had different versions flying to Japan, Europe and every other place. There were extended versions, shortened versions; all kinds of weird versions. In my opinion, audiences never got to see a full film. Somewhere in all that mess, there was a legitimate story. It was there in the script.'
Box office
The film debuted at No. 2 behind ''
Terminator 2: Judgment Day'', but failed to make a profit.
References
External links
*
*
*
*
* {{rotten-tomatoes, mobsters
1991 films
1991 crime drama films
American biographical films
American crime drama films
Biographical films about gangsters
Films set in the 1910s
Films set in the Roaring Twenties
Films set in the 1930s
Films set in New York City
Films about the American Mafia
Films about Jewish-American organized crime
Films scored by Michael Small
Universal Pictures films
Cultural depictions of Lucky Luciano
Cultural depictions of Frank Costello
Cultural depictions of Bugsy Siegel
Cultural depictions of Arnold Rothstein
Cultural depictions of Mad Dog Coll
Cultural depictions of Al Capone
1991 directorial debut films
Cultural depictions of Meyer Lansky
1990s English-language films
1990s American films