The Alto Knights

Barry Levinson directed this mediocre gangster movie, with writer Nick Pileggi turning a potentially dramatic story into a generally dull exercise in nostalgia, genre cliches and a showpiece for Robert DeNiro to show off his considerable acting skills.

First hour is uninvolving and hard to sit through, thanks to an awkward flashback structure and rat-a-tat-tat editing. It opens with De Niro has mobster Frank Costello surviving an assassination attempt in 1957, and then fills in the his story and that of his childhood friend, mobster Vito Genovese (also played by DeNiro), leading up to the second half where their troubled relationship comes to an end -and the picture gets interesting. Too late for me, after suffering through that first half.

Levinson is bogged down in nostalgia, all the vintage cars, lots of old footage of familiar real-life celebs ranging from Louis Prima and Louie Bellson to James Cagney and Little Richard, and hectic montages of still photos. After a while, I was wishing that this was a Ken Burns documentary titled "The Crime Families" instead.

The entire movie is told from Costello's point-of-view, with sort of a third DeNiro playing old age Costello and looking more like Martin Scorsese (my peculiar reaction only). DeNiro's acting plus the script sugarcoat the Costello character to such an extent that he comes off as the "good guy" of the story.

But it is DeNiro as hothead/nutcase Genovese that is the flamboyant role here, especially compared to the overly bland Costello presentation. Levinson would have been better off casting Joe Pesci as Genovese. The gimmick of DeNiro times two, playing both leading roles in a movie, comes off in a technical sense, but is distracting from the story.

Supporting cast is extremely weak, mostly making no impression at all. An exception is Kathrine Narducci as Genovese's fiery wife Anna -she's the best thing in the picture. Debra Messing as Costello's wife is stuck in a nothing part. Of all the subsidiary gangsters in a large cast, only Michael Rispoli as Albert Anastasia stands out of the crowd.

I saw the reviews of this and was surprised how negative they were.

I was always going to see it.

The critic in The Metro paper in the UK goes on about how old the film makers are,is this relevant?

I agree with her the film could be better but it is still a good watch.

I like this sort of film but am not an expert on the history of the story and viewers don't need to be.

Sending a reviewer who doesn't like gangster films to see a gangster film seems wrong.

I give no spoilers but the film reminded me of Once Upon A Time In America.

It is not as good as that film but this is still a quality production from a justly respected director.

The production design and costume design in this are excellent.

You believe you are in the 1950s.

I didn't notice any body using modern language either.

The soundtrack was great as well,I hope it is available on cd.

What about the script you ask? Well the script is fine,it tells a complicated story well.

The acting is great.

People playing older people look older.

I was not very familiar with all the cast but I was impressed with all the performances.

If anyone who likes this sort of film they should ignore the negative reviews and go and see it.

You believe.

Bobby shoulda only played Frank and it coulda been better had he woulda.

Fine lead actor and to some degree he can perform character actor but playing opposite himself was distracting for me. His voice inflections and tonality, mannerisms, and basic personality made scenes with both characters very monotone. That carried over to solo scenes as well. Makeup was good but not good enough to dispell.

Overall I enjoyed the movie, but would have appreciated it with Keitel, Pacino, Hoffman, or many other possible actors playing opposite in the Vito role.

Messing was great.

PS Joe Bonanno would slap you senseless had he seen where you made him old and frail before his time. I knew him in the 1970s and he still presented a formidable presence.

After seeing over the years Robert De Niro star in gangster films such as Mean Streets, Goodfellas, Casino, and The Irishman, it's astonishing to see him play gangster fresh in The Alto Knights. Sure, we've seen most of his facial and vocal turns before, but never in two different mobsters in the same film with two distinct personalities.

Narrator Frank Costello (De Nir0) is an analytical businessman not wholly invested in being a mid-twentieth century icon; his former best friend from youth, Vito Genovese (De Niro), is a hot head bound to lead the mob in the US, regardless of his friendship with current mob head, Frank. To see De Niro play both nose to nose in negotiations is to see one of the great film actors of all time.

When you look into Frank's eyes, you see latent menace that has caused countless deaths. Looking at Vito's glasses, you don't have the depth but rather a surface violence, hardly hidden. A great actor brings both distinct personalities alive.

Director Barry Levinson also brings his memorable work with Bugsy and Wag the Dog while writer Nicholas Pileggi brings traces of success from Goodfellas and Casino. With the three pedigrees converging in The Alto Knights, you must expect greatness, and you get it, maybe not throughout but enough to say that if Coppola and Brando had also been involved, this film would have been incomparable.

Most scenes are intimate as Frank's wife Bobbie (Debra Messing), and he quietly map out their fate. More flamboyant is Vito's wife, Anna (Katherine Narducci), whose courtroom histrionics as she testifies against him is the stuff of in your face while it contrasts with De Niro's subtler approach (not his usual path). The variety of acting and its excellence makes this a gangster film you should not refuse.

The Alto Knights... It takes all of the charm of GoodFellas (and is very clearly written by the same guy: Nicholas Pileggi), but it lacks the mastery that Scorsese brings, instead looking like a lazy knock-off. It has plenty of potential, but it chooses to take the easy way out and ends up feeling half-baked.

GoodFellas has one of the best narrations of all time by Henry Hill and his wife, Karen, and this movie attempts to do the same. However, it ultimately hurts more than it helps. Instead of adding on to the story, De Niro sits there and tells you the story for the first half hour. He tells you about himself and the other main characters and everyone's entire backstory, rather than letting you experience it for yourself. It starts off like nothing more than a bedtime story with some black and white stock footage of Hell's Kitchen in New York thrown on screen. Then it abandons the narration for a bit before picking it back up. It doesn't let you experience the characters and feel for them; it tells you exactly what it wants you to know, with no creativity, no room for interpretation, and no flair, all of which are things that a movie needs.

Apart from that, the writing is not particularly bad. It's nothing special, but it doesn't hurt the movie. De Niro does his best with what he's given, but the dual role ends up being too distracting. His dialogue scenes with himself feel clunky and out of place. All I could think about was how perfectly Joe Pesci would fit into that role as a short-tempered, stubborn mob boss (who lies to make himself taller).

This movie had so much potential, in both its story and its cast, but it was wasted, instead cutting corners. Yet, despite all of this, it was still a little bit of fun, and nice to see just a straightforward, traditional gangster movie. It's easy enough to look past all of its flaws and enjoy it (most of the time). There are some good moments of suspense, a few comedic lines, and even most of the side characters feel well-rounded enough to be believable. Unfortunately, this movie is only just good enough, nothing special, but it's for sure worth a watch if you get the chance.