The Alto Knights Review

 

I recently saw The Alto Knights with my uncle Donald, and here are my thoughts…

Robert De Niro played two roles as mob bosses, Vito Genovese and Frank Costello, the two leads of the mafia, and their friendship, rise to power, struggles, and eventual rivalry throughout the decades.

The best way I would describe this movie is in analogy… If Goodfellas is Cheerios, then The Alto Knights is an off-brand version, but still good in its own way.

The best part of this movie is Robert De Niro and his performance; it helps that they got the original writer of Goodfellas and Casino, Nicholas Pileggi, to write very authentic and funny dialogue. But De Niro is fantastic at differentiating the two characters, playing Frank as a very reserved and cool-headed posh mobster (like his character in Casino) and Vito like Joe Pesci in Goodfellas, mixed with Harvey Keitel. And for someone playing both roles… De

Niro has a really good chemistry with himself lol.

Debra Messing & Katherine Narducci also give very strong and likable performances as the two women in the mobsters lives, and they work well off De Niro.

The movie has a very fun, boring cast; like, there are so many middle-aged New York “”Sopranos”-looking Italian guys in this, I was surprised that I didn’t get a free cannoli at the door lol.

The movie has some pacing problems at points, like they do some flashbacks and flash-forwards in the film, and I think if it had been told in a more linear style, it would’ve helped the film.

There are parts of the story you wish they had gone more into and might not have been able to film because of budget issues, but the way they get around this with old tiny photos was actually pretty creative and well done, so I tip my hat to them for that.

The movie is funnier than I thought it would be. Vito is a very wild and unpredictable character who says some funny things, so you’ll get some good laughs in the film.

I like the first half as a sort of history of the mob mixed with the rise to power of these two guys, and then the second half focuses on Frank pulling off a scheme and the tension that goes with that. It was very interesting and kept me intrigued.

The film goes on a bit long at points, like a couple of scenes feel dragged out, and other scenes feel like more information should be there but are too short. And finally, the ending felt a bit rushed and could’ve had more of an “oof” to it, instead of a sort of quick wrap-up we get.

Overall, I enjoyed the film. Depending on how much you enjoy mob movies, Martin Scorsese, or history, or De Niro, or Goodfellas, it might influence how much you enjoy the film. I feel like the more you enjoy it, the better time you’ll have, but it’s one of those movies that if it’s like a lazy day and you want to watch something new and you put it on, you’ll have a good time with it overall if you’re into that sort of thing.

I give it a high three stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️ … Forget about it. 🤌