Gotti marketing team fires back after horrendous reviews

Stacy Keach, left, and John Travolta in a scene from Gotti. Photo / Brian Douglas/Vertical Entertainment, via AP

The marketing team behind John Travolta's new movie has hit back after critics universally panned the film.

Released in the US last week, the mobster movie Gotti currently has a 0 per cent rating on Rotten Tomatoes and not one of the site's top critics have had a nice thing to say about it.

"I'd rather wake up next to a severed horse head than ever watch Gotti again," the New York Post wrote.

"This is a strange thing to say about a notorious mob boss who was locked up for murder, but John Gotti deserved better," a critic from IndieWire wrote.

Rolling Stone said in its review: "Starring in this mobster biopic that deserves to get whacked is an offer Travolta should have refused. Insane testimonials from Gotti supporters at the end are as close as this s**tshow will ever get to good reviews".

Starring John Travolta as John Gotti and directed by Entourage star Kevin Connolly, the movie pulled in just $2.3 million on its opening weekend and the film's marketing team is now desperately pleading with punters to check it out despite the reviews.

Audiences loved Gotti but critics don’t want you to see it… The question is why??? Trust the people and see it for yourself! pic.twitter.com/K6a9jAO4UH

— Gotti Film (@Gotti_Film) June 19, 2018

On Twitter overnight, the Gotti Film account posted: "Audiences loved Gotti but critics don't want you to see it … The question is why??? Trust the people and see it for yourself!"

Attached to the tweet was a short video which showed scenes from the film and included the text, "Audiences loved Gotti … Critics put out the hit ... Who Would You Trust More? Yourself or a Troll Behind a Keyboard".

Rotten Tomatoes also allows audience members to rate the movie and so far almost 7000 people have given Gotti a 70 per cent rating. But industry insiders, including Screen Junkies' Dan Murrell, have suggested the audience ratings have been manipulated by the those connected to the movie.

Look how many users left a rating for Gotti. Now look at how many left one for Incredibles 2. These numbers shouldn't be on par with each other. Incredibles 2 did over 100 times the business Gotti did - and opened in 3500 more theaters. pic.twitter.com/oeVFrhnNvv

— Dan Murrell (@MurrellDan) June 19, 2018

Gotti has MORE user ratings than Ocean's 8. Again, a movie that has done MUCH more business, opened in more theaters, and has been out a week longer. pic.twitter.com/SjqE9jFCf1

— Dan Murrell (@MurrellDan) June 19, 2018

My point: more and more, marketers are using the "audience/critic" divide to explain away bad reviews and drive business. It doesn't seem like a coincidence that this tactic is now being used for a film that has an abnormally high number of user reviews for a film of its size.

— Dan Murrell (@MurrellDan) June 19, 2018

Okay, I’ll just come out and say it. Some party involved with Gotti artificially manipulated the audience scores and they’re now using it as a marketing strategy. The numbers don’t make sense. Even if that weren’t true, this is a divisive & desperate way to sell a film. https://t.co/Q5jznjNRSx

— Dan Murrell (@MurrellDan) June 19, 2018