With The Alto Knights , Robert De Niro is bringing twice the energy. No, he isn’t topping his menacing supporting role in Killers of The Flower Moon (Martin Scorsese, 2023), but playing two lead roles; mafia bosses at that. Beyond the gimmick of De Niro playing two Italian-American goons, Barry Levinson’s feature brings nothing new or substantial to a genre that ideally should have ended with The Irishman (Martin Scorsese, 2019).
This biographical, two-hour movie centres on Vito Genovese and Frank Costello (both played by De Niro), New York mob men who engage in verbal and physical warfare. One of them orders a hit, causing the rift to become personal, particularly when it involves their wives (played with sultry flair by Debra Messing and Kathrine Narducci). Being of Italian heritage, both men take offence once family is involved.
The work is as clichéd as it reads, and it’s hard to discern which of the gangsters De Niro has invested more of himself into, as they are both bland representations of a stereotype. English actor Cosmo Jarvis struggles with the dialect Vincent Gigante. Anyone hoping to watch a film that passes the Bechdel Test should peer elsewhere. Most frustratingly, The Alto Knights is a plodding viewing experience; odd, given the testosterone on display.
The feature opens in the 1950s, detailing the rise of the criminal underworld in a collection of sparkly edited flashbacks. Known for their tough demeanour in public, the two showcase a softer side to their spouses; of which Messing’s beguiling Bobbie is the more warmhearted. Levinson does very little to modernise the genre. Writer Nicholas Pileggi struggles with dialogue, as evidenced by such insipid lines like, “We ain’t been down dangerous roads before?”
The decision to cast De Niro as two different characters is a curious one, as there is little contrast between the pair. Other than a marketing gimmick, The Alto Knight does not showcase a new element to his arsenal, unlike the aforementioned Killers of The Flower Moon which exposed an avariciousness which he had never before brought to the omniplex.
Levinson is a stylist by trade, and the obligatory assassination scenes – a collection of gun-welding thugs marching into a barbers to blast at the customers, for one – are cemented by clever uses of reds and blacks, indicating the wounds accrued. Not forgetting the attention to detail in the costumes; De Niro is draped from head to toe in the suits of the bygone era. Levinson will undoubtedly be called out for his sensationalisation of the warfare, which may not have been as brutal in reality as it is in the film, but it’s a bigger grievance to note how dull the work truly is.
As sexist as it may be, Messing is excellent as the cool-headed wife, chiming into her husband’s daily routine with a pleasant voice of reason. She seems like a fine addition to the movie, suggesting a complexity that might not have been discovered by a less talented actress. There is a substance noted in Messing’s portrayal that puts De Niro’s to shame, as it is brimming with nuance. It would be nice to see her work with the actor again, but it could be time for De Niro to move away from the mafia genre permanently.
The Alto Knights is in cinemas on Friday, March 21st.
