‘The Alto Knights’ review: Robert De Niro does double duty for Barry Levinson

Dir: Barry Levinson. US. 2024. 123mins 

Set throughout the Nineteen Fifties, the lacklustre gangster drama The Alto Knights feels old style in largely disappointing methods, paying homage to classical Hollywood filmmaking with out the requisite talent or verve. Chronicling the feud between real-life New York mobsters (and former mates) Frank Costello and Vito Genovese, the fashionable image may be based mostly on precise occasions however there isn’t a lot right here that doesn’t really feel lifted from different, higher mob films. There may be one doubtlessly fascinating wrinkle — Robert De Niro performs each characters — however that solely brings unflattering comparisons to his earlier work.

A retread of a bygone period of mobster masterpieces

With a global rollout starting March 19, this Warner Bros launch hits UK and US theatres on March 21. Snow White ought to dominate the worldwide field workplace, however older audiences may be enticed by The Alto Knights’ acquainted trappings. Past De Niro’s twin function, the image’s gangster bona fides are additional enhanced by Goodfellas co-writer Nicholas Pileggi, who penned the screenplay, and Goodfellas producer Irwin Winkler overseeing the mission. And, after all, director Barry Levinson helmed Bugsy, the Oscar-winning 1991 portrait of mobster Benjamin Siegel.

Late in his life, mob boss Frank Costello (De Niro) talks on to the digicam about his life and the way it intertwined with that of childhood pal Vito Genovese (additionally De Niro), who would turn into rivals in maturity once they had conflicting concepts about run New York’s prison underworld. Beginning with a failed hit on Costello ordered by Genovese in 1957, The Alto Knights flashes again to indicate how their bond severed years earlier. Whereas Costello preached prudence and cooperation with the intention to guarantee entente among the many metropolis’s highly effective crime households, the much more paranoid and temperamental Genovese pursued his fierce ambitions – resulting in an eventual showdown between the previous allies. 

Levinson and cinematographer Dante Spinotti have customary a good-looking manufacturing accented by costume designer Jeffrey Kurland’s sharp interval threads. There are cosy comforts in watching the undemanding, sturdy storytelling as we await the inevitable face-off. Earlier than the Second World Conflict, Genovese dominated town, till he had take exile in Italy for nearly a decade — in his absence, Costello emerged as a extra steady, profitable boss, leading to peace and prosperity within the underworld. As quickly as Genovese returns, anticipating to be reinstalled as capo, he seeks to undermine his good friend’s authority and regain his throne.

Some tremendous make-up work helps distinguish the 2 characters, and De Niro refrains from enjoying both man too broadly. His portrayal of Costello recollects The Irishman’s soft-spoken, considerate Frank Sheeran, whereas the hotheaded Genovese evokes Joe Pesci’s trigger-happy hoods from Goodfellas and On line casino. Costello proves to be the extra participating presence, a humble gangster who doesn’t carry a gun and resists resorting to violence. In a way, the 2 mobsters characterize totally different sides of De Niro’s indelible on-screen persona, and The Alto Knights sometimes advantages from putting them facet by facet – a yin and yang of rage and introspection. However, finally, the technique works largely as a superficial contemplation of the actor’s appreciable legacy, not as an insightful examine of mates torn asunder.

A lot of the movie suffers from this similar drawback, the story bringing to thoughts previous cinematic highlights with out providing recent commentary or interrogating the style’s tropes. The Alto Knights’ bloody assassinations and world-weary observations in regards to the corruption of the American dream are de rigueur, and even Genovese’s humorous tirades directed at incompetent lackeys largely function a reminder of how humorous De Niro has been in photos like Imply Streets, when he has juxtaposed menace with a live-wire wit. And whereas the occasions depicted in The Alto Knights will end in a significant law-enforcement motion that profoundly formed the American mafia, Levinson’s sombre, pedestrian method captures neither the joy nor the momentousness of the incident.

De Niro’s lead performances outshine the remainder of the ensemble, who’re trapped in poorly-drawn roles. Every man had a vital love, with Debra Messing enjoying Costello’s longtime spouse Bobbie, a fictionalised model of his actual partner. Messing largely has to hit cliched notes of concern and devotion, whereas Kathrine Narducci a minimum of will get to indicate a bit spark as Genovese’s assertive spouse Anna, who refuses to be cowed by this blustering bully. She’s the one energetic ingredient in a movie which too usually resembles a waxworks retread of a bygone period of mobster masterpieces.