Rob the Mob Movie

In this first of a 2-part series, Gary and Aaron reveal that John Gotti inspired the Bonnie and Clyde couple made famous for robbing New York City mafia social clubs. The story was made into a crime film in 2014. Rob the Mob was directed by Raymond De Felitta and written by Jonathan Fernandez. The film stars Michael Pitt, Nina Arianda, Andy García, Ray Romano, Aida Turturro, Frank Whaley, Michael Rispoli, and Joseph R. Gannascoli and is based on a true story. It was released on March 21, 2014.

Rob the Mob: The Real Story

Rob the Mob begins in 1992 when a drug addict ex-con named Tommy Uva got a job with his wife and fellow drug addict Rosemarie at a debt collection agency. The boss, Michael Schussel, would later say that they were both were entranced with Gotti and the mafia. He described the pair as Mafia groupies who had at one time asked for days off to attend the trial of the Gambino boss John Gotti.  The movie suggests that was where Tommy Uva got the idea because Sammy the Bull testified that mob guys played high stakes card games and never carried guns inside the social clubs. Sammy the Bull did testify at that trial and it would be probable that he would say something like this.  Gotti was in a trial during the spring of 1992.

Why pick Mafia social clubs

Like most drug addicts, the  Rob the Mob couple made decisions based on their chemical feelings of invincibility and never thought ahead to the future or to the consequences of their actions. It is said that in one club, as he was brandishing his heist weapon of choice, an Uzi sub-machine gun, one of his victims pointed out the foolhardy nature of his choice of robbery venues. He looked at the man through his ski mask and replied: “Everybody dies.” The movie depicts Tommy trying to figure out what to do with a fully automatic Uzi and having trouble with his first robbery by accidentally firing off long bursts. When you fire a long burst from an automatic weapon, the continuous recoil moves the barrel up. This is one technical depiction that the film got right.

Many people asked why they picked these social clubs and one New York reporter said, “Maybe they were just plain stupid.

After they got started doing these robberies, the stress took its toll. Rosemarie fainted at work after people were passing around a newspaper that contained an article about one of their robberies. Tommy would be fired for fighting with Rosemarie at work.

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