Tonight’s movie: Boss of Bosses

I like mob movies. Sopranos, Goodfellas, Godfather, Casino. Unquestionably, all of these have characters who are unquestionably bad but with whom we come to identify and cheer on. But Boss of Bosses, a made for cable original that premiered tonight on TNT, goes to far in making Paul Castellano into a good guy. He kills people but hates that he must and this gives him nightmares.

And beyond the amazingly poor taste shown in Castellano’s characterization, the film explicitly lies about a key factor in his downfall. In the film, his maid (also his lover) tells the FBI to go screw when they approach her for help; in reality, the FBI planted bugs in Castellano’s home with the woman’s help and it was she who told the FBI that Castellano often sat at his kitchen table to discuss business.

This will film not be joining the others mentioned in the mob film hall of fame.