The Alto Knights: An Incredible Creative Team Delivers a Surprisingly Bland Gangster Pic (Blu-ray)

The Film:

It's been ten long years since Oscar-winning Director Barry Levinson, the man who's given us a multitude of classics that has included "Rain Man," "Diner," "Good Morning, Vietnam," and "Bugsy," has delivered a theatrical feature. Instead, he's been focusing his attention on the small screen, working on projects that have included the HBO film "The Wizard of Lies" and the Hulu miniseries "Dopesick,” both of which received a fair amount of awards attention.

Now, at long last, he's opted to return to the big screen with "The Alto Knights," a project that not only reunites him with two-time Oscar winner Robert De Niro, but also has him directing from a screenplay by Oscar nominee/BAFTA winner Nicholas Pileggi (author of the book "Wiseguy" and co-screenwriter for the film adaptation, "Goodfellas," which also starred De Niro). An Oscar winning director, a two-time Oscar winning lead, and the co-screenwriter of the best gangster film ever made, all collaborating on a real-life tale of the same genre, certainly seems like a combination that couldn't possibly go wrong. Will Levinson's long-awaited return to theatrical features be the great resurgence his fans are hoping for?

"The Alto Knights" focuses on two prominent gangsters, crime boss Frank Costello (Robert De Niro) and his former boss Vito Genovese (Robert De Niro), the latter of which had originally been in charge before having to flee the country to escape a murder charge. Near the start of the film, Vito sends someone to kill Frank, but they botch the attempt, causing the latter to announce his plan to retire and give control back to Vito, who outright refuses to believe that Frank is telling the truth. As the tension between the two continues to build, Frank soon realizes that, despite his honest intention to give up his position, he and his wife (Debbie Messing) will be in constant danger until Vito is dealt with, prompting Frank to develop a plan that will hopefully settle things for good.

It's fascinating to learn that this is a project that's been in the works since the '70s, but over the decades, it was passed on by every major studio until Warner Bros. finally gave it the greenlight in 2022. It may have been delayed a couple of times from its early 2024 release date, but again, with the creative team attached to it, it seemed like a project that should be given the benefit of the doubt. Because of this, its move to 2025 seemed at least partially reasonable, but was the result worth the long wait?

Unfortunately the short answer to that question is "not particularly." What we get with "The Alto Knights" is a mild, somewhat bland gangster picture that doesn't really have much to say about the rivalry between these two, with Pileggi's screenplay presenting their story in a very by-the-numbers manner and not delving very deep into who these men were. These were real-life gangsters who held a lot of power, and no doubt there is a fascinating story to be told about their battle for supremacy in the '40s and '50s, but sadly Pileggi's systematic approach just wasn't the way to do it.

As for De Niro playing duel roles as Frank & Vito, he does give interesting performances as both, but the characters are written in a rather one note, straightforward fashion that makes them appear mostly superficial throughout the telling of their story. Even an incredibly talented thespian like De Niro has trouble turning them into compelling, fully-developed individuals that the audience can get engaged with, though, again, the fault lies more in Pileggi's screenplay, which doesn't provide that vital development.

All of this leads up to an easily-foreseeable conclusion that, despite being what really happened, gives the film a somewhat anti-climactic ending, ultimately making for a film that had a fair amount of potential, but never takes advantage of the material. In the end, perhaps there's a reason that this took around 50 years to finally come to fruition. Perhaps others saw that there just wasn't enough substance here to turn it into a compelling tale, or maybe there just wasn't a sufficiently-engaging approach to tell it. Either way, the Levinson/Pileggi rendition of the story simply doesn't do it any favors, resulting in a lackluster gangster pic that will quickly fade from your memory.

Video/Audio:

"The Alto Knights" comes to Blu-ray in a 2.39:1, 1080p High Definition transfer of excellent quality. The image is perfectly sharp & clear throughout its two-hour duration, highlighting the film's incredible period detail. Likewise, the Dolby Atmos-TrueHD audio track is marvelous, giving you all of the dialogue, sound effects, and music in outstanding quality. Overall, Warner Bros. has done a fantastic job in both areas for the film's physical release.

Special Features:

None.

Conclusion:

Barry Levinson's "The Alto Knights" features some interesting work from Robert De Niro in duel roles as rival gangsters, but sadly Nicholas Pileggi's straightforward, by-the-numbers screenplay turns this fascinating true-life tale into a rather bland, unremarkable rendition of Frank & Vito's story, ultimately making for a forgettable gangster pic with unfulfilled potential.

Score: 3/5

Available on Blu-ray starting tomorrow.

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