Review: The Alto Knights

Image courtesy of Warner Bros.

Barry Levinson's "The Alto Knights" was written by Nicholas Pileggi, who wrote the book on which Martin Scorsese's classic "Goodfellas" was based, but while that previous film was one of the greatest movies ever made about mafia life, this new film feels a little aimless, despite its subject matter being intriguing enough and Robert De Niro doing a fine job of double duty as 1950s mob bosses Frank Costello and Vito Genovese.

The film opens in 1957 when Costello nearly escapes an attempt on his life after a hitman's bullet grazes his head in an elevator. Genovese is behind the hit, which comes after a long period of tension between the two men, who had grown up together and ascended the New York mob ranks before Genovese fled to Italy and got stuck there during World War II and Costello took over as the boss of bosses in New York, using diplomacy over force and paying off cops and politicians alike.

In his older age, Costello seemingly wants to live a quiet life, while Vito is paranoid and hot tempered. It doesn't take much to incur his wrath. During one such instance, he kills his wife's former husband after the man dared to eat at the same restaurant and another man who stumbles upon the scene becomes collateral damage.

Costello further enrages Vito when the U.S. Senate begins a series of hearings on organized crime, and while Vito and others plead the fifth, Frank offers to testify, although it's clearly a strategic mistake, resulting in him walking out halfway through his testimony. He tries to set up a national meeting among mob bosses from around the country that also ends in disaster.

While De Niro does a good job of portraying both men - his Costello is laid back and diplomatic, while Vito is temperamental and psychotic - it's a curious choice to have him portray both men, who look alike because the same actor is playing them, but who aren't related in any way. The film also builds tension as the spat between the two men gets out of control, but a quick view of Wikipedia will inform you that it all ultimately leads to nothing. 

While a chronicle of the U.S. mafia during one of its pivotal eras is, no doubt, always going to provide a reasonable amount of intrigue, there's no sense or urgency here when all is said and done. In other words, I'm not sure there was a reason to tell this story. 

Levinson, who previously directed the very good mob movie "Bugsy," and De Niro are veterans of the genre - and they do what they can to make "The Alto Knights" moderately interesting - but this is not one of the more compelling examples of a mob movie.