Witness to the Mob does have that "made for TV" look and feel to it simply because of the movie's length (approximately 3 hours) and because it is presented as more of an autobiography/history of the New York mafia in the 1980's and early 1990's. than as a fictional action movie. I was impressed with both Nicholas Turturro's portrayal of Sammy the Bull Gravano and with Tom Sizemore's portrayal of John Gotti. When you consider the murder and mayhem caused by these two criminals over the 20 year period that they were involved with organized crime, then one would expect that consolidating the historical events of the 19 murders associated with Sammy the Bull Gravano would be filtered several times over. Even with the limited time (3 hours or so) provided by the screening of Witness to the Mob the movie was quite impressive with factually presenting the life and times of Sammy the Bull Gravano. Debi Mazar played Sammy's faithful and loving wife and Michael Imperioli played Sammy's child hood friend. Through time and sequence of events we get to understand why Sammy eventually needs to silence forever both his childhood friend and also his own brother in law. We do see the distinct contrast between John Gotti's flamboyant lifestyle and Sammy's more disciplined belief in the Costa Nostra and his loyalty and devotion to his mafia family comes before his own family.All in all, kudos to the director Thaddeus O'Sullivan for drawing out the characters lifestyles and historical events of the New York mafia for a television audience. I give full marks to Nicholas Turturro and Tom Sizemore for their great performances as two of the most cruel and vicious criminals who eventually turn on one another to save their own skin. The movie provides good insight in to the personality of Sammy the Bull and why he did turn on his mafia family, because he eventually realized that Paul Castellano the boss of bosses, and John Gotti who took Paul out to become the new mob boss, there is no real honor and/or family within the mafia, only power and greed.This is a good history of the New York mafia "that you should not refuse watching" for a made for TV movie.

This movie is tragically miscasted. And though many reviewers claim that this movie is closer to the truth than HBO's Gotti was, it is inferior in every way.It all starts with Turturro. Someone here claims he looks the part of Gravano, but that just ain't true. He's far too dark skinned, and though he has Italian ancestors he has always looked more Mexican to me. It also has to do with his role in NYPD Blue. Turturro doesn't play the part of a made mafia man. He always looks timid, shy and a bit anxious (same for his role in NYPD Blue). The supporting cast is full with the usual suspects you see in mafia films, and most have got their known roles in the Sopranos. But that also makes it a problem, a supporting cast that clearly overshadows the lead role just doesn't work. I don't know about Tom Sizemore, I love the actor, and he does a decent job. But Assante was better, he really embodied Gotti.It all doesn't work. And the story may be closer to the truth. But remember that 'truth' is a strange concept in this context. The truth is based on a single testimony and some investigative work. In my opinion movie makers have some freedom in interpreting such truths for their work. HBO's Gotti just works much better.

All in all Witness to the Mob is superior to the HBO fairy tale called Gotti - but the former fails at what the latter did right: the portrayal of Sammy Gravano. Strangely, it seems that most filmmakers think they need a hero or at least a resemblance thereof. In HBO's Gotti it was Gotti, a charismatic, smart leader with comprehensible morals, whose downfall was the egoism of his underlings. In WttM, Sammy the Bull is portrayed as a misunderstood, dutiful voice of reason and overall goody two-shoes. Both portrayals are as far from the truth as it gets.WttM shows Gotti the way he was: an egomaniacal braggart with delusions of grandeur. (I am at a loss as to how some folks can criticize Sizemore's take on Gotti which unlike Assante's is very close to the original.) A blend of these two movies would yield *the* authoritative adaptation of the subject. In direct comparison, though, WttM takes less liberties with the story, which is why I vastly prefer it over HBO's version.On its own WttM is a very enjoyable LCN movie - even more so for those who are interested in the subject, provided they can generously overlook the factual inaccuracies.

This movie is based on the true story of "Sammy the Bull" Gravano, a self-confessed killer who helps prosecute Mafia boss John Gotti, in exchange for immunity. Yes, the acting is a bit wooden, and the script full of cliches, but it's an interesting study of a real life Mafia case - definitely worth a look, but certainly not a classic.