The Alto Knights, 2025.
Directed by Barry Levinson.
Starring Robert De Niro, Debra Messing, Cosmo Jarvis, Kathrine Narducci, Michael Rispoli, Michael Adler, Ed Amatrudo, Joe Bacino, Anthony J. Gallo, Wallace Langham, Louis Mustillo, Frank Piccirillo, Matt Servitto, Robert Uricola, Belmont Cameli, Carrie Lazar, James Ciccone, Bob Glouberman, Jeffrey Grover, Jean Zarzour, Abi Van Andel, John Dinello, Brian Scolaro, Luke Stanton Eddy, Noah Bain Garret, Sydney Miles, Robert Arce, Mike Seely, Seve Esposito, Todd Covert, Amadeo Fusca, Louie Lawless, James P. Harkins, Ed Formica, Glenn Cunningham, Shantel Routt, and Christine McBurney.
SYNOPSIS:
Vito Genovese and Frank Costello, a pair of Italian Americans who were rivals for control of a major crime family in the mid-20th century. Genovese attempted to assassinate Costello in 1957, although Costello retired from the mob.
During one of numerous sit-downs between mob boss Frank Costello and former best friend/crime boss associate Vito Genovese in the late 1950s, both played by Robert De Niro (who hasn’t lost a step playing these types of characters and instantly makes one feel right at home from the opening minutes, as if there is no need to worry), director Barry Levinson’s The Alto Knights momentarily cuts deep into a fascinating angle of self-perception. Getting out of the way now, dear reader, there was reason to worry.
Frank Costello, a professional gambler with behind-closed-doors political influence and an opportunity seizer during the prohibition days (taking advantage of the fact that it was a law no one wanted to enforce), who also has a respectable public image donating to charities, has deluded himself into believing that he is not a racketeering mafioso hotshot boss directly in charge of several New York territories. At the very least, he doesn’t think any of his crimes lessen whatever good he has done. There is an alarming lack of honesty within himself. Vito confronts and challenges Frank to reassess how he perceives himself, while being bluntly honest about himself: a mobster looking to expand into dealing drugs, turning a blind eye to anyone warning him that such a slimy business endeavor could be cataclysmic to all organized crime in New York and not just the specific territories Frank allows him to operate within.
There is also one more problem threatening to destroy whatever is left of this childhood friendship: Vito was once the boss of all bosses, a title he had to give up to Frank around World War II, subsequently finding himself stuck in Italy longer than expected during that period. Meanwhile, Frank had risen through the ranks and not only found a way to be successful in organized crime with unexpected allies all over the place but had also earned significant trust from nearly every other crime boss during his time leading everyone. As such, the temperamental Vito isn’t enthused about having little territories or support behind his riskier illegal business ventures; he wants that leadership back from Frank. Naturally, it’s in everyone’s best interest to let the more professional, calmer, publicly adored Frank to maintain control.
In theory, this juxtaposition between mob boss personalities alongside the perception of buying into a false benevolent image in contrast with a straight-shooter sociopathic, extremely paranoid mobster should give Robert De Niro two meaty roles. To an extent, that’s true. It’s already one hell of a workload to carry a flawed film trying to elevate the material in the leading role, but here, playing dual roles, it falls on the legendary actor (working well within a mode he excels at) to do so in nearly every scene. That’s not solely counting scenes they are in together, but moments such as a hearing for one De Niro frequently cutting back and forth to the other criticizing his handling of the situation. It’s a curious mixture of entertaining, compelling, and likely unintentionally hilarious. Credit also goes to costume designer Jeffrey Kurland for bringing out some of those differences in personality through their dress styles: Vito is generally sharper dressed, exuding the swagger of someone much more merciless, greedy, and corrupt.
However, the rich potential here is never lived up to, primarily due to Nicholas Pileggi’s screenplay, which isn’t merely told in flashbacks but, oddly, as a reflective story from the perspective of an older Frank. It’s a decision that kills the momentum there is to be found in a narrative like this, centered on escalating tension between rivals, while also serving as a means to cram in endless exposition about the early days of friendship between Frank and Vito, their respective rises and initial brushes with oppositional belief systems. There is hardly any context for much of it, meaning the first act often feels like a dump truck unloading information that matters per se but doesn’t necessarily register emotionally in preparation for anything to come.
The structural woes only continue from there, jumping into key events that would tie them together in the public eye and set them on a collision course with one another and the law (which mainly amounts to subplots with each of their wives, played by Debra Messing and Katherine Narducci, respectively), except much of it is dryly told with little energy that not even a rare burst of violence offsets.
Part of that could be due to Nicholas Pileggi’s background as a journalist reporting crime within this underworld. However, upon further memory refreshment, scrolling through his resume reminds that this is also the man who wrote Goodfellas, which feels impossible considering the disparity in quality here. Perhaps Martin Scorsese truly does make all the difference in the world.
In Pileggi’s defense, the film starts to feel more focused by the time the third act comes around, finally passing by its medias res opening involving a shooter played by Cosmo Jarvis (a particular moment that feels like a crazy creative choice here given how much tension it eliminates for a while, and how shocking the moment could have been if it came up organically in the narrative) and reaching a point for Frank and Vito where everything must come to a head. Again, some of that suspense is spoiled given the chosen storytelling structure.
Failure also falls on Barry Levinson, simply unable to save this from feeling like one of those crime reports and transform it into riveting, urgent, incendiary mobster material. Elsewhere, his direction is serviceable and filled with pleasant period piece details such as old-fashioned suits, the Copacabana, the look and feel of penthouses and barbershops, black and white TVs broadcasting baseball games, and classic automobiles. Still, not even the crafty wiseguy move of two Robert De Niros acting his ass off can smooth over the shoddy storytelling within The Alto Knights.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★
Robert Kojder is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association, Critics Choice Association, and Online Film Critics Society. He is also the Flickering Myth Reviews Editor. Check here for new reviews and follow my BlueSky or Letterboxd
