Not romantic as in ‘an expression of love.’ Romantic in the sense of the word that means an “idealized reality.” There is a vision of mobsters as tough-talking, guns-blazing badasses.

And, yes, there are credible connections between organized crime and JFK’s father, who made his fortune as a bootlegger. That the mob had something to do with his assassination is a popular conspiracy theory that this movie accepts as the truth.

Maybe I should have made this point more clear though: DeNiro’s character is NOT a reliable narrator.