The Alto Knights review

THE ALTO KNIGHTS: 

DUAL ROBERT DE NIRO PERFORMANCE ASIDE, THIS CRIME FLICK IS PRETTY FORGETTABLE! 

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: ** out of 4

WARNER BROS. PICTURES

Robert De Niro and Robert De Niro in The Alto Knights

 

            Robert De Niro (GoodFellas, Joker, Killers of the Flower Moon) goes up against himself in The Alto Knights, the new crime drama from Barry Levinson (Diner, The Natural, Rain Man) based on the true story of mob bosses, Frank Costello and Vito Genovese. I was onboard for this movie when I first saw the trailer in front of September 5, De Niro as two crime bosses in like a throwback to the gangster films that made him an icon such as Taxi Driver, The Godfather: Part II, Casino, and the already mentioned GoodFellas, sign me up. 

            Well, the good news is De Niro’s dual performance as Frank and Vito is the best part of the movie, the bad news is the film itself is a mess. It’s not a terrible movie and compared to other films De Niro starred in like Little Fockers, Dirty Grandpa, and The War with Grandpa, this movie is Scorsese by comparison, but the film just hits the same beats as every other gangster movie over the past several years despite competent direction from Levinson. 

            The film is set in 1950s New York and follows Frank Costello and Vito Genovese (Both played by De Niro), the top bosses of the Mafia and once the best of friends. However, a power struggle spills into open conflict when Vito orders a hit on Frank though he barely survives, Frank maneuvers to protect himself and his family from Vito while also planning to retire from the Mafia. 

            The film also stars Debra Messing (The Mothman Prophecies, Searching, Irresistible) as Frank’s wife Bobbie Costello, Cosmo Jarvis (Lady Macbeth, Warfare, The Odyssey) as Vincent Gigante, Kathrine Narducci (The Sopranos, Jersey Boys, The Irishman) as Vito’s wife Anna Genovese, Michael Rispoli (Snake Eyes, Kick-Ass, The Rum Diary) as Albert Anastasia, Ed Amatrudo (Drop Zone, Nashville, Stranger Things) as Rudolph Halley, James Ciccone (Somewhere in Queens, American Horror Story, Saturday Night Live) as Carlo Gambino, Wallace Langham (The Larry Sanders Show, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Hitchcock) as Estes Kefauver, Louis Mustillo (High Incident, The Peacemaker, Mike & Molly) as Joseph Bonanno, and Matt Servitto (The Sopranos, All My Children, Brotherhood) as George Wolf. 

            Overall, The Alto Knights has impressive production design and Robert De Niro clearly giving his all as Frank and Vito, sadly this is a very by the numbers crime movie and one of Barry Levinson’s lesser directing efforts. It just hits every beat you’d expect from a film like this with practically nothing new or clever added almost like it was a Martin Scorsese or Pre-Megalopolis Francis Ford Coppola-inspired script that was written by AI like here’s this movie’s equivalent of a scene from this movie or a character from that movie or a conflict similar to this film. 

            It’s clear Barry Levinson was trying to do a GoodFellas-style crime drama reminiscent of the works of Scorsese, but either didn’t fully understand the emotional weight or masterful storytelling of his work or WB interfered with the production (The studio is known for making dumb decisions lately). It’s a shame because like Scorsese, Levinson is a very talented director and I’ve enjoyed several of his projects, but it seemed like he wasn’t the right fit for this kind of film. 

            The movie is also presented in a strange way, it is essentially a biopic through and through, but you’ll suddenly have documentary-style editing and footage of De Niro as Frank discussing the events as if he’s being interviewed. It’s a very stilted presentation and often clashes with the pacing of the rest of the film. 

            It also feels like a movie that was heavily trimmed down to make a 2-hour runtime because there are tons of plot elements that are quickly glossed over throughout the film that honestly could have led to some much-needed emotional levity and character development. The worst example is when Vito’s wife comes into the picture and you see how they met and fell in love, but then the film spontaneously cuts to them after a heated divorce and arguing in a courtroom, it feels so empty because she’s not well-established despite Kathrine Narducci giving her all. 

            Despite the lackluster material, Robert De Niro is excellent in his dual performance as Frank and Vito and brings his A-game to both roles. Compared to a performance in something like Dirty Grandpa where he’s clearly doing this just for a paycheck, you can tell when he’s extremely passionate about a project regardless of how good or bad the material is, and this is one of them. 

            He’s doing his New York, fast-talking shtick and he is thankfully the most entertaining part of the movie with Frank being sort of the straight man and Vito as the crazy, unhinged killing machine. Regardless of the situations both characters are in, I enjoyed just listening to De Niro talk to De Niro as he does have decent chemistry with himself and honestly would have been fine with a movie just about a one-man show with Robert De Niro (Easily an improvement over what we ended up with). 

            Unfortunately, De Niro isn’t enough to save this forgettable gangster film that ranks low in Barry Levinson’s filmography. Apparently, the movie had a long production history dating back to the 1970s so, I don’t know what happened in the past decades that resulted in this dull, unremarkable crime drama. 

            The Alto Knights isn’t Gotti bad as there are some legitimately impressive things in terms of the cinematography and production design, plus Robert De Niro’s great dual performance. Sadly, it takes what could have been a fascinating and compelling crime movie and turns it into Scorsese paint by numbers and it’s crazy to think that we live in a world where a Sonic the Hedgehog movie with a dual Jim Carrey performance and a completely batshit horror movie about a demonic monkey toy with a dual Theo James performance are much better than a gangster film with two Robert De Niros. 

            Personally, I’d recommend just sticking to De Niro’s collaborations with Scorsese or The Godfather: Part II and Barry Levinson’s earlier work. Despite the talent both in front of and behind the camera, The Alto Knights is soulless and that’s it’s biggest crime.