Based on a story about Thomas, a man obsessed with Mafia culture in NYC. Thomas sets out to fix the 1992 trial of John Gotti. When Thomas's failed, he sets off on a drug infused crime spree with his girlfriend and long-time mob groupie, Rose, by brazenly robbing the local Mafia hangouts. The Wannabe intertwines real people and true events, past and present, with fantasy.
Few films are better titled than The Wannabe, a portrait of a Bronx kid who would have done anything to be part of the mob world he knew from the movies.
The mix of callous humor and romantic doom doesn't always hold up, but in its best moments, "The Wannabe" finds real spikiness in the pitfalls of anti-hero worship.
Mr. Piazza offers a persuasive portrait of decline, but it is the crumbling beauty and flailing hopes of Rose that resonate. Ms. Arquette comprehends the character inside and out, and her aim is true.
