Obviously, it’s impossible to watch a Mob biopic directed by Barry Levinson (who also made Bugsy), written by Nicholas Pileggi (who co-wrote Goodfellas and Casino), produced by Irwin Winkler (Goodfellas and The Irishman), and starring Robert De Niro (surely you see where this is going) and not think about the genre-defining classics that came before it.
So let’s just acknowledge up top that comparisons won’t serve anyone well. But if you take The Alto Knights on its own terms – as an eccentric but engaging curio – there’s still plenty of fun to be had.
This is particularly true regarding the two central characters: true-life Mafia frenemies Frank Costello, played by De Niro, and Vito Genovese, played by… De Niro. Though his double duty presence is an obvious gimmick, the actor remains invested enough to keep us watching all the way.
De Niro imbues New York crime boss Costello with shrewd intelligence and an almost gentle gravitas, as though he genuinely wishes other people didn’t constantly require him to bribe, cheat and steal. And he plays the paranoid, hot-headed Genovese as though nobody was able to drag Joe Pesci out of retirement, so he figured he might as well just do it instead.
The only thing left for De Niro to do is play warring gangsters all by himself
Sure, it’s all a little quixotic, especially when the pair face off against each other. But it’s also entertaining, as long as you’re willing to go with it. And why wouldn’t you? At this point, it almost seems obvious that the only thing left for De Niro to do is play warring gangsters all by himself.
Debra Messing is distractingly miscast in the underwritten, overplayed role of Costello’s wife. And Vincent ‘Chin’ Gigante, one of history’s canniest mobsters, would be outraged by Cosmo Jarvis’s portrayal of him as an inept meathead. But Sopranos regulars like Michael Rispoli, Matt Servitto and Kathrine Narducci settle in comfortably, adding some extra flair around the edges.
The real issue is that Levinson hasn’t quite decided how to tell this story. His let’s-try-it-all mix of archival footage, chummy voiceovers, and earnest on-camera interviews is mostly effective, in the style of a St. Valentine’s Day bullet spray. But the pacing stutters through dramatic scenes that are either overlong or oddly truncated, while exaggerated camerawork and a portentous score regularly build suspense the script can’t support.
So eventually, The Alto Knights comes to feel a little like its own central climax: the historic 1957 summit that brought together a veritable conclave of Mafia machers. If Levinson’s depiction is accurate, this infamous alliance actually had the makings of a pretty good party – at least for anyone who wasn’t overly invested in the outcome.
In cinemas worldwide Fri Mar 21.