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The Many Saints of Newark
(Warner Bros. Pictures/New Line Cinema/HBO)
By Lucas Allen
The new film “The Many Saints of Newark” attempts to bring new light in the family saga that was the hit HBO series “The Sopranos.” Series creator David Chase returns to co-write the film, while Alan Taylor, who previously directed several episodes of the show, directed. Whether or not you’re a fan of the show, you may find some charm in its dangerous world full of witty characters.
The movie opens in 1967, where head patriarch “Hollywood” Dick Moltisanti (Ray Liotta) brings home from Italy his trophy wife Giuseppina (Michela De Rossi). His son Dickie (Alessandro Nivola) runs the family’s racketeering business with his closest in-laws Johnny (Jon Bernthal) and Junior (Corey Stoll) Soprano. Meanwhile, one of his African American right-hand men, Harold (Leslie Odom Jr.), hopes to use his skills with numbers to break out and start his own business. But this is a turbulent time when racial tensions are reaching a boiling point and everybody is caught in the middle. After a family tragedy, Dickie turns to his uncle Sal (also Liotta) for guidance on how to be a better person.
Cut to 1971, where Johnny’s teenage son Tony (Michael Gandolfini) is growing up idolizing his uncle Dickie by getting in trouble at school and doing his own business on the side. All his mother Livia (Vera Farmiga) can do is try to be a good mother to her son. Harold, on the other hand, finds his dream business growing, which causes a deadly rift between him and his ex-boss Dickie. Both men come to realize they share something that could destroy them both.
The film is not exactly a movie in and of itself. It feels more like a first part of a limited series meant for streaming and not theaters. It does have a beginning, but then it seems like it forgot that it has an actual middle and ending. Instead, we get a series of scenes edited together without much connection. While the plot is mainly about Dickie, it tends to cut back to other characters without a story line to go with it.
Because of the lack of structure, the editing doesn’t put any effort to tell the story in the most cohesive and straightforward way. There’s also a lack of a narrative flow, with random dialogue scenes that don’t meld a lot of the time. The movie could’ve used the mob movies of Martin Scorsese like “Goodfellas” and “Casino” as lessons in constructing well-crafted stories of loyalty and betrayal. But in this case, you’ll have to try to pay attention to what the characters are saying to try to understand or you’ll get lost in the endless plot threads.
One thing that carries the film is its eclectic cast, who sell their characters right down to their caricatures. Nivola does stellar work as the show’s oft-talked about Uncle Dickie, while Bernthal, Stoll and Farmiga are commendable at bringing the younger versions of their recognizable characters from the show. The young Gandolfini does his late father proud playing Tony, showing him developing that nasty streak. Unfortunately, teenage Tony doesn’t appear in the movie a lot, making one think maybe they’ll save him for a possible sequel. It’s surprising to see Liotta back in a gangster film 30 years after “Goodfellas,” but it’s also surprising to see him in a dual role, though the actor does show some good range.
For any Sopranos fan, “The Many Saints of Newark” represents either a welcome return or an unnecessary cash-grab. Either way, nothing about it earns a full theatrical experience. The fact that it’s also streaming on HBO Max makes more sense, since fans would rather watch something Sopranos-related on the couch.
THE MOVIE’S RATING: R (for strong violence, pervasive language, sexual content, and some nudity)
THE CRITIC’S RATING: 2.5 Stars (Out of Four)
