‘The Alto Knights’ Review – A Slog Through Mob History

Some of our greatest filmmakers have made some of their greatest films based on gangsters. And for good reason! They are the perfect embodiment of the anti-hero in American cinema. Most of them come from small beginnings and are fighting back against a system designed to keep the poor in their place. Yes, they are violent criminals, sometimes even bordering on psychopathic, but in a good film of this genre, we understood the seduction and the allure of that world. But zoom in on “greatest filmmakers.” Not everyone can make a great gangster film. With The Alto Knights, despite having the writer of Goodfellas and the star of Casino, director Barry Levinson made it clear that he is unable to even make a decent one.

The film follows two Robert De Niros, Frank Costello and Vito Genovese, as they battle back-and-forth over control of their criminal empire. And honestly, this is the first of many mistakes. There is no actual reason for De Niro to play a dual role, other than as a lure to bring in audiences who remember his work in vastly superior Scorsese and Coppola films. As Costello, he is serviceable as an aging mobster who simply wants to cede his place and spend time with his wife Bobbie (Debra Messing) and their two dogs. As Genovese, he is borderline awful. Yes, he is successful at distinguishing the two characters, but only because he appears to be playing a dime store version of Joe Pesci. Despite the character’s motor mouth tendencies, he does little besides yell at screens and cronies. Additionally, the makeup, forcing an unnatural smoothness and a jutting jaw, gives more shades of Kenneth Branagh’s Frankenstein than it does of The Irishman.

The film is flawed from the very beginning, as Costello details the rise and fall of both of these characters and seems to want to keep us at a distance. Oddly, it uses two framing devices to accomplish this small feat. At first, Costello is sitting on a bench talking to…no one in particular and then the film shows us a series of slides reviewing the ancient history of the mafia in America. It takes a story that should be exciting, or at a minimum engaging, and turns it into suffering through vacation pictures from your aging relatives. Any moment that could be fun is performed either behind a sheet or in a fade to black. It is as if Levinson has no understanding of Cagney, De Niro, or Pacino and leans on pure vocal tics to carry the day. Yes, Mr. De Niro is one of our best, a living legend. But not even he can make this repetitive, derivative material distinct from the inherent tedium of a tall tale from your Italian grandfather.

There are moments, brief they may be, that have a sense of actual enjoyment. Kathrine Narducci, playing Genovese’s wife, Anna, is a wonder to behold. She perfectly understands the assignment of the mob wife (and ex-wife) and absolutely goes for broke. Does she ever seem like a real person who existed? Of course not. But at least she does the dirty work of waking the audience from their stupor. Messing, on the other hand, seems mildly embarrassed to be present, dressing her dogs in mink coats, and who can really blame her? She is not particularly effective, but again, who could be with the ridiculous dialogue she is forced to spit out? Frankly, there are only so many times a character can state that she wants her husband to get out of his current dangerous position before it becomes impossible to care if he does or not. 

In a movie about two gangsters, it is astounding how little happens, and with a complete lack of forward momentum. The script seems to be written by Jimmy Two Times of Goodfellas fame, hoping to stretch the runtime by simply telling us over and over (and over!) again what is happening and why. Neither Nicholas Pileggi nor Levinson seem to understand the value of brevity in a story like this. They show us very little and tell us everything. This is two steps away from being forced, at shaking gunpoint, to read the Wikipedia summary of Costello and Genovese. Even the shot composition, filmed by Dante Spinotti, is unimaginative and tedious. There are only so many cuts to numerous license plates at a mafia gathering that one can stand without rolling their eyes. We have all seen The Godfather’s wedding scene, Mr. Levinson. 

This film wants to thread the needle between looking back at a life of crime and engaging in its brutality, but without the thought or the willingness to focus on said violence. You simply cannot eat your cake and have it too. The movie strives for everything and reaches nothing. Not everyone can, or should, make a mobster film. With the many options you have in this very American genre (or even those featuring De Niro), The Alto Knights should be near the bottom of your list.

The Alto Knights is currently playing exclusively in theaters courtesy of Warner Bros. Discovery.