The Alto Knights Movie Review!
Tonight I took my step-son to the movies to view The Alto Knights. To my surprise, he really enjoyed the film. It was his first real viewing of the Mob Genre world. I thought the movie was outstanding as well. The episode that we have on the podcast now with Tony Destefano, who was an advisor on the film, gave some great insight into the movie.
The Acting!
It starts with the great Robert De Niro. De Niro took on the challenge of playing both roles of Vito Genovese and Frank Costello. Initially, I was very skeptical of this but De Niro pulled it off and was amazing as both characters. I will add it can be confusing to people not familiar with the History of VIto and Frank. The rest of the cast was amazing. Debra Messing and Kathrine Narducci are veteran actresses and they were fantastic as the wives of the two Mob bosses. Sopranos Alumni Michael Rispoli played a great Albert Anastasia. I did have a minor issue with the writing description of the character that I will get to later. The supporting cast played spot-on roles.
The Writing!
The screenplay by Goodfellas writer Nick PIeggi is based on Tony Destefano’s two books The Deadly Don and Top Hoodlum. The way the movie starts with the culmination of the feud and then fills in the pieces is brilliant. The writing builds the tension between the once best friends Vito and Frank. It tells the History in an interesting way bringing in pictures of the past mixed with the treachery of the Mob way of life.
Minor Issues!
So I do have some minor issues with the film where Hollywood took some liberties. I think the Albert Anastasia character could have been written more accurately by portraying him as the vicious and feared boss that he was. I understand why Hollywood did it this way because they were trying to fill a storyline by saying loyalty to Frank was only reason that Anastasia was taken out. There were many reasons why and by the way that scene is one of the best in the movie along with the Appalachian meeting scene. I do think Hollywood took some liberties with Frank’s role in the meeting being busted up by Law Enforcement. Tony mentions that on our podcast. Another minor issue is how they wrote the character of Vinny the Chin Gigante. They really made him look like a worthless idiot when in fact he would develop into one of the most secretive and powerful bosses in the country. These are minor complaints compared to the rest of this very good film.
Conclusion
This was a very good Film with incredible acting and writing. The Mob Genre scene has been very limited for quite a while now so this was a pleasant surprise to see. It’s always good to see Soprano alumni in a movie because you know they will play the role to perfection. I recommend this film to everyone interested in this long-forgotten history.
