“The Alto Knights,” Barry Levinson’s new film, operates in fits and starts, as if it were an antique Studebaker hitting the road after a long sabbatical. Worse yet, it speeds up when it should be slowing down and occasionally stalls out due to some scratch-your-head choices.
One of its dubious decisions is that it double casts Robert De Niro. While the venerable actor remains one of our greats, his toggling back and forth between playing New York mob kingpin Frank Costello and portraying gone-rogue former buddy Vito Genovese ultimately proves distracting and is wholly unnecessary.
The moments when both characters appear on screen should pop and crackle with electricity and energy, akin to when De Niro squared off with Al Pacino in Michael Mann’s “Heat.” As is, “Knights” is like watching someone shadow boxing in a broken mirror.
Worse yet, Levinson and screenwriter Nicholas Pileggi (“Goodfellas”) make the odd choice to skim over Frank and Vito’s buddy-buddy years, choosing instead to haul out flashy quick edits that rocket us through the essential part of their lives. The scenes come at us so rapidly they leave us hungering for the freneticism to wind down so the film could take some time to add context and better character development. To see it done right, rewatch Sergio Leone’s “Once Upon a Time in America” or Francis Ford Coppola’s “The Godfather” mob saga. Those films engaged us, in part, because the directors took the time to build characters and relationships. So when things happened to people, we felt it. Here, we don’t.
What “The Alto Knights” nails is its opulent production design. Levinson obviously relishes bringing all that history to nostalgic life and robustly cycles us through the various eras, especially the ‘50s: from the music, the clothing, the cars, and the details of the homes where Frank and his wife, Bobbie (Debra Messing) live. (The Alto Knights referenced in the title was a social club in Little Italy where mobster figures hung out).
Those elements shine brighter and create a bigger impression than the rather one-note supporting characters, including Bobbie, played well by Messing even if she doesn’t get enough to do but smoke cigs, watch TV, look concerned and play with her pipsqueak dogs. As Vincent Gigante, Cosmo Jarvis (“Shogun”) gets one juicy chance to show off his comedic chops when Gigante and Genovese get into a argument during a car ride. It’s one of those hilarious classic wise-guy interactions that is both welcome and disheartening since it reveals what this movie could have been. The most entertaining performance comes from Kathrine Narducci, who plays the larger-than-life character of Vito’s queer bar-owning girlfriend/wife. She perks up “The Alto Knights” in every scene.
But too often, “The Alto Knights” doesn’t trust its own true story or its characters, resorting to filling in blanks by having De Niro’s Frank jarringly speak into the camera, sometimes speeding up and then slowing down, as if simulating an interval training workout. Too bad, as there is obviously enough talent in front of and behind the camera to get the job done.
Contact Randy Myers at soitsrandy@gmail.com
THE ALTO KNIGHTS’
1½ stars out of 4
Rated: R (violence and pervasive language)
Cast: Robert De Niro, Debra Messing, Cosmo Jarvis, Kathrine Narducci
Director: Barry Levinson
Running time: 2 hours, 3 minutes
When and where: Opens March 21 in theaters nationwide