The Alto Knights - Máfia e Poder

The Alto Knights- In Cinemas now My Rating - 6/10

I wondered why and how a Robert Di Niro movie based on a true story about two rival New York organised Crime bosses directed by Barry Levinson could possibly flop at the box office?

Is it because there's been so many movies along similar lines starring Robert Di Niro like The Irishman 2019, Goodfellas 1990, The Godfather 11 1974, A Bronx Tail 1993, The Untouchables 1987, and Once Upon a Time in America 1984 etc?

Perhaps audiences are a bit tired of mafioso and gangsters however for me the reason The Alto Knights is inferior to the above listed movies is misplaced ego .

By that I mean as fine an actor as DeNiro is playing two roles in one movie especially when the only difference basically is a different nose and chin only confuses the characters for the audience and is a stretch to far.

I found myself trying to differentiate between the two main characters Frank Costello and Vito Genovese both played well by Robert DeNiro however it would have been better separate actors played each role .

After all they're not even related but look like twins , it's just a silly casting choice.

The story meanders also back and forth and doesn't have much impact at all.

It's basically the story of 2 gangland bosses on a collision course as told by Frank Costello married to Bobbie played very well by Debra Messing ,nice to see her in a dramatic role.

The usual scenario of gangland violence as the 2 men who were friends as teenagers vie for control of the drug trafficking and alcohol supply on New Yorks city's streets.

Once best friends, petty jealousies and a series of betrayals set them on a deadly collision course.

For me this is a straight to streaming movie.

I saw the reviews of this and was surprised how negative they were.

I was always going to see it.

The critic in The Metro paper in the UK goes on about how old the film makers are,is this relevant?

I agree with her the film could be better but it is still a good watch.

I like this sort of film but am not an expert on the history of the story and viewers don't need to be.

Sending a reviewer who doesn't like gangster films to see a gangster film seems wrong.

I give no spoilers but the film reminded me of Once Upon A Time In America.

It is not as good as that film but this is still a quality production from a justly respected director.

The production design and costume design in this are excellent.

You believe you are in the 1950s.

I didn't notice any body using modern language either.

The soundtrack was great as well,I hope it is available on cd.

What about the script you ask? Well the script is fine,it tells a complicated story well.

The acting is great.

People playing older people look older.

I was not very familiar with all the cast but I was impressed with all the performances.

If anyone who likes this sort of film they should ignore the negative reviews and go and see it.

You believe.

This film was a bit like all of the other Robert De Niro Italian Mafia films, so you know what you're going to get. It's enjoyable, and by no means a bad film, but a tad formulaic.

I am unclear why De Niro played both main characters - at times it felt a little confused and, to be honest, my mind wandered to the prosthesis that went in to differentiating his looks. Was the fact he played both, a metaphor on the nature of the individuals (because this was based on real people), a commentary on the nature of the type of people involved, just a bit of fun for the actor, or an attempt to save money? Whichever, whilst it didn't have much of an impact on the film, it was odd.

As I say above, even though formulaic, an Nobel film, but with no surprises.

I watched this thinking it will be rubbish because of the low ratings. It's nowhere near as bad as the reviews say. It was more entertaining than the Irishman, which was really boring. The acting was good and some scenes were very entertaining with the sharp dialogue. You kind of feel bad for Deniro getting these negative reactions when he did a really good job playing two characters convincingly. Yeah it won't be the best mob movie you will watch but definitely doesn't deserve the negative ratings here. If you like mob history of this era you would be mad to miss this and stupid to be easily influenced by Deniro haters.

The Alto Knights... It takes all of the charm of GoodFellas (and is very clearly written by the same guy: Nicholas Pileggi), but it lacks the mastery that Scorsese brings, instead looking like a lazy knock-off. It has plenty of potential, but it chooses to take the easy way out and ends up feeling half-baked.

GoodFellas has one of the best narrations of all time by Henry Hill and his wife, Karen, and this movie attempts to do the same. However, it ultimately hurts more than it helps. Instead of adding on to the story, De Niro sits there and tells you the story for the first half hour. He tells you about himself and the other main characters and everyone's entire backstory, rather than letting you experience it for yourself. It starts off like nothing more than a bedtime story with some black and white stock footage of Hell's Kitchen in New York thrown on screen. Then it abandons the narration for a bit before picking it back up. It doesn't let you experience the characters and feel for them; it tells you exactly what it wants you to know, with no creativity, no room for interpretation, and no flair, all of which are things that a movie needs.

Apart from that, the writing is not particularly bad. It's nothing special, but it doesn't hurt the movie. De Niro does his best with what he's given, but the dual role ends up being too distracting. His dialogue scenes with himself feel clunky and out of place. All I could think about was how perfectly Joe Pesci would fit into that role as a short-tempered, stubborn mob boss (who lies to make himself taller).

This movie had so much potential, in both its story and its cast, but it was wasted, instead cutting corners. Yet, despite all of this, it was still a little bit of fun, and nice to see just a straightforward, traditional gangster movie. It's easy enough to look past all of its flaws and enjoy it (most of the time). There are some good moments of suspense, a few comedic lines, and even most of the side characters feel well-rounded enough to be believable. Unfortunately, this movie is only just good enough, nothing special, but it's for sure worth a watch if you get the chance.