The Wannabe

2015 American film

Michael Gasparro
Lizzie Nastro
Vincent Piazza

Starring

Vincent Piazza
Patricia Arquette
Michael Imperioli
Doug E. Doug
Vincenzo Amato
David Zayas
Domenick Lombardozzi
Joseph Siravo
Nick Sandow

CinematographyBrett PawlakEdited byMelody LondonMusic byNathan Larson

Production
companies

Electric Entertainment
Traction Media

Distributed by

Orion Pictures
Momentum Pictures

Release dates

April 17, 2015 (2015-04-17) (Tribeca Film Festival)
December 4, 2015 (2015-12-04) (United States)

Running time

90 minutesCountryUnited StatesLanguageEnglishBox office$272^[1]

The Wannabe is a 2015 American drama film written and directed by Nick Sandow, with Martin Scorsese as an executive producer, and starring Patricia Arquette, David Zayas, Domenick Lombardozzi, Michael Imperioli, Vincent Piazza and Nick Sandow. It was released on December 4, 2015, by Orion Pictures and Momentum Pictures.

Cast

Vincent Piazza as Thomas
Patricia Arquette as Rose
Michael Imperioli as Alphonse
David Zayas as Pablo Guzman
Domenick Lombardozzi as Mickey
Nick Sandow as Anthony
Mike Starr as Jerry
Doug E. Doug as The Twin
Vincenzo Amato as Richie
Slaine as Bruce Cutler
Larry Eudene as Assistant DA
Joseph Siravo as John Gotti
Neal Huff as Judge Glasser
Mark Lotito as Prosecutor Maloney
Adriana DeMeo as Annie
Daniel Sauli as Curtis Sliwa
Mario Macaluso as Whitey
Jay Bulger as Eric Roberts
Mark Vincent as Eddie Lino
Joe Bevilacqua as Giuseppe

Production

Nick Sandow was inspired to write the film after reading about Thomas and Rosemarie Uva, a New York City couple who were murdered on Christmas Eve 1992 by the New York mafia after they had robbed several mafia social clubs over the prior few months. After Sandow worked with his Boardwalk Empire co-star Vincent Piazza on the script, the pair sent the script to Boardwalk Empire executive producer Martin Scorsese. Sandow told Creative Screenwriting, "When we felt comfortable about the script, we thought about trying to get it to Marty. He sent it to him with a bottle of wine before the holidays. We didn't have expectations, but after the holidays they were having a table read for the first episode of the next season of Boardwalk Empire and Marty came up to him and said he loved The Wannabe."^[2] Scorsese agreed to serve as executive producer of the film.

Release

The film premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival on April 17, 2015.^[3] On May 18, 2015, Entertainment One Films acquired the film.^[4] It was released on December 4, 2015, by Entertainment One Films.^[5]

Reception

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes the film holds a "Rotten" 38% rating based on eight reviews, with an average rating of 3.5/10.^[6] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 49 out of 100, based on seven critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".^[7]

Ronnie Scheib of Variety called the film a "conventional mob drama" but praised the performances.^[8]

References

^ "The Wannabe (2015) - Financial Information".
^ McKittrick, Christopher (2015-12-03). "The Wannabe: A Gangster Love Story". Creative Screenwriting. Retrieved 2015-12-03.
^ "Tribeca Exclusive: Clip From 'The Wannabe' With Oscar Win | The Playlist". Blogs.indiewire.com. Retrieved 2015-10-26.
^ Siegel, Tatiana (2015-05-18). "Cannes 2015: eOne Nabs 'Wannabe' With Patricia Arquette (Exclusive)". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2015-10-26.
^ Meriah DotyEditor (2015-10-21). "'The Wannabe' Trailer: See Patricia Arquette in Contemporary Bonnie-and-Clyde Tale in Gotti's New York". Yahoo.com. Retrieved 2015-10-26.
^ "The Wannabe (2015)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved November 20, 2020.
^ "The Wannabe Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved November 20, 2020.
^ Ronnie Scheib (2015-05-11). "'The Wannabe' Review: Patricia Arquette Rises Above Conventional Mob Drama". Variety. Retrieved 2015-10-26.