Real-Life Mobster 'Sammy the Bull' Gravano Thinks Scorsese 'Could’ve Did a Much Better Job' On 'The Irishman'
The Irishman may be nominated for 10 Academy Awards, but there are definitely plenty of people who aren’t fans. It’s been criticized for historical inaccuracies, Anna Paquin’s almost entirely silent role, and the real-life Chuckie O’Brien (played in the film by Jesse Plemons) wasn’t pleased with his portrayal. Now, someone else has notes for director Martin Scorsese: Former Gambino family underboss Salvatore 'Sammy the Bull' Gravano.
Gravano, who confessed to participating in nearly twenty murders and whose turn as state’s witness helped land infamous Gambino crime boss John Gotti behind bars, raised some of the accuracy issues others have pointed out in an interview with the New York Post.
“The Irishman did not do the shooting. He’s not the guy who killed Jimmy Hoffa,” Gravano told the Post. “From what I understood it was given to Tony Provenzano, who was a very powerful captain of the Genovese family, and his man, his guy Sally-something-or-other, whatever the fuck his name was…”
The Post reporter helped Gravano fill in the blanks—he was referring to “Sally Bugs” Briguglio, who’s played in the film by Louis Cancelmi. (He’s the guy who strangles the union leader who won more votes than his boss, Tony Pro, and later helps get rid of Hoffa’s body.)
The Irishman is based on the memories of Frank "The Irishman" Sheeran, as collected in Charles Brandt’s book, I Heard You Paint Houses. But Hoffa experts have said that Sheeran fabricated his tales of killing the famed union leader and others. And Gravano isn’t alone in thinking that Briguglio was behind Hoffa’s killing. We might never know, however—amid rumors that he was poised to cooperate with authorities as he faced separated murder charges in 1978, he was executed in a killing that remains unsolved.
The 74-year-old Gravano, whose daughter Karen starred on the deeply disturbing and yet highly entertaining VH1 reality series Mob Wives, also had other quibbles with The Irishman. Like a lot of viewers, he thought the movie’s three-and-a-half-hour run-time was a little much.
“It was not as well done as I thought [it] would be, with everybody who was in it,” he told The Post. “They could’ve did a much better job. You know, they’re all big actors when it comes to Mafia movies, stuff like that.”
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