Sometimes, one of the most difficult aspects
of creating a story is coming up with the perfect name. A name
should convey some sort of connection to the material. The creators
of Wannabes likely had no clue how appropriate their chosen
name would be.
The film is about a group of Italians who
dream of being mobsters. But on a much broader level, it's like
the little kid who's constantly riding his big brother's heels,
wishing he could play at his level. Wannabes has seen The Godfather
and Goodfellas and it tries, it really tries, to reach that
level, but it falls flat on its face at every turn.
Where Goodfellas was about life in the mafia,
Wannabes is about life in a mafia movie. Had writer William
DeMeo (who, incidentally, also stars as the main character,
Angelo) waited for a little more inspiration or shown a little
more wit, he might have turned Wannabes into a parody and made
an infinitely better film. As is, Wannabes quite nearly parodies
itself by generating unintentional laughs through witless and
recycled dialogue and clichéd scenes and characters.
The film follows brothers Angelo and Paulie
(Conor Dubin), two waiters who, in the words of the film, aspire
to life on the other side of the table. They see the big spending
mobsters and scheme for a way to play in their field. Their
plan is to become bookies and loan sharks.
Eventually, Angelo's successes earn the attention
of the local Don, Santo. Santo takes a cut of Angelo's action
and becomes impressed with the money coming in. Soon there is
talk of making Angelo a "made man," an official mafia
member. All of this attention irritates Santo's son, Vinnie,
who is jealous of Angelo's sudden arrival on the scene. Naturally,
this sets up a conflict that will inevitably lead to war.
Wannabes commits two of the most unforgivable
crimes in storytelling by being both uninspired and predictable.
At it's best, the acting is only passable and the production
values are, overall, fairly poor. The very first scene is contrived,
the very last scene is flat and everything in between would
have been better left on the cutting room floor.
If you want mobsters, watch the infinitely
better Godfather films or Goodfellas or The Sopranos. As its
name implies, this film is just a wannabe.
