Into this world of titans, steps Barry Levinson with The Alto Knights and frankly it’s all a bit of a mess. Some of the calamities come from concepts that don’t connect and storytelling that lacks that visceral edge. Concept-wise having Robert De Niro play the two main leads with only bad make-up to distinguish between the two doesn’t work at all. It also causes a bit of confusion as to who is whom.

Storytelling-wise, even though it is based on a true story and real people, it waters down the gangster life to be one filled with domestic bliss (and boredom) and detunes their barbaric behaviour to a glimmer of the true savagery they were capable of. It also portrays a number of them as bumbling fools, they were most certainly not. Pacing is also a problem as the films build to a climax that just never happens.

It takes a convergence of many mistakes to make a gangster film as uninteresting as The Alto Knights. There are however a few moments to saviour. If you are a fan of nineteen-fifties Detroit Iron there are some absolutely classic examples of that automotive art on display and there is a scene of gastronomic excess that will make you so hungry for Italian food, that you should see an early screening so the restaurants will be open on your way home.
Rob Hudson
www.facebook.com/WarnerBrosAU/

The film follows two of New York’s most notorious organized crime bosses, Frank Costello (De Niro) and Vito Genovese (De Niro), as they vie for control of the city’s streets. Once the best of friends, petty jealousies and a series of betrayals place them on a deadly collision course that will reshape the Mafia (and America) forever.

“The Alto Knights” was written by Oscar nominee Nicholas Pileggi (“Goodfellas”) and produced by Oscar winner Irwin Winkler (“Rocky,” “Goodfellas”), Levinson, Jason Sosnoff, Charles Winkler and David Winkler, with Mike Drake executive producing.

De Niro stars alongside Debra Messing (“Will & Grace”), Cosmo Jarvis (“Shōgun”), Kathrine Narducci (“The Irishman”), Michael Rispoli (“Billions”), Michael Adler (“Peppermint”), Ed Amatrudo (“Till,” “Nashville”), Joe Bacino (“Kick-Ass”), Anthony J. Gallo (“The Irishman”), Wallace Langham (“Ford v Ferrari”), Louis Mustillo (“Cooper’s Bar,” “Mike & Molly”), Frank Piccirillo, Matt Servitto (“Billions”) and Robert Uricola (“Raging Bull”).

Joining Levinson (“Rainman,” “Dopesick”) behind the camera are Oscar-nominated director of photography Dante Spinotti (“The Insider,” “L.A. Confidential”), production designer Neil Spisak (the “Spider-Man” films, “Dopesick”), Oscar-nominated editor Douglas Crise (“Babel,” “Dopesick”), Oscar-nominated costume designer Jeffrey Kurland (“Bullets Over Broadway,” “Tenet”), award-winning casting director Ellen Chenoweth (“Past Lives”) and composer David Fleming (“Hillbilly Elegy,” “Mr. & Mrs. Smith”).

Warner Bros. Pictures Presents an Irwin Winkler Production, a Barry Levinson Film, “The Alto Knights.” The film will be distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures worldwide and released in Australian cinemas on March 20.
www.facebook.com/WarnerBrosAU/