Moviegoers today are very fortunate to be in a timeline where films such as “The Godfather” (1972) and “Goodfellas” (1990) exist, able to be viewed many times. Those films, in particular, are famous for many reasons, mainly for how stylized each one is in its crime storytelling.
At its core, Barry Levinson’s “The Alto Knights” (2025) pulls too many techniques from other spectacular Mafia films. It commits one of the worst sins any film can make by not being its own thing.
The film follows two historic crime bosses in America, Frank Costello and Vito Genovese, and explores how their friendship turned sour after Genovese deliberately tried to have Costello killed. The film is based on real people and events, and its script was written by Nicholas Pileggi, the famous author of nonfiction books such as “Wiseguy: Life in a Mafia Family” (1985).
Robert De Niro, playing both Costello and Genovese, immediately grabs the attention of movie fans. To the film’s credit, this makes it stand out beyond other films in the genre.
While it’s not one of his career-best performances, De Niro swings for the fences when he plays both characters. Their relationship and how De Niro performs them is reminiscent of Mia Goth’s performance as Maxine Minx and Pearl in Ti West’s popular X film series.
It’s cliche, but Costello and Genovese are two sides of the same coin. Both try to believe they are different from each other in some ways, but by the end, they realize they wouldn’t be in the position they are in if they hadn’t done some shady activity in the past.
For his age, it’s good to see De Niro in a film where he gets to play not one but two roles. He’s easily the best aspect of the film.
One part of the film that could have been better if it was used in a more clever way is the film’s use of narration from Costello. The technique feels plucked right out of Martin Scorsese’s “The Irishman” (2019), where Frank Sheeran, played by De Niro, details his history working for the Buffalino crime family and for Jimmy Hoffa, played by Al Pacino, when Hoffa was president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.
Using narration in a film isn’t plagiarism, yet it just feels odd to include it with De Niro being the narrator. Narration can be an effective tool when it is used properly, but in the case of “The Alto Knights,” it does feel slightly lazy.
The film’s editing is also quite the experience, to put it lightly. At times, the film transitions from one scene to the next smoothly, and there are no jarring cuts. However, there are some instances where the editing is very choppy and the camera is all over the place when it could easily just be stationary.
Like all great mob films before it, “The Alto Knights” incorporates many actors who are born to be in this genre. The best case of this is Kathrine Narducci’s role as Anna Genovese, Vito Genovese’s wife. Anna Genovese enters and leaves the film on strong terms. However, her character could have been used a bit more.
The film does excel in having comedy that never feels forced or put in at the last minute. De Niro’s characters each have their moments, and Narducci’s Anna has a hilarious courtroom scene.
The soundtrack is also a nice blend of old-school songs from the time that complement what’s happening in the film thematically or storywise.
At its worst, “The Alto Knight” is uninspired and it never seems to find its own personality. At its best, it has a strong De Niro performance, some notable secondary performances and scenes that will make the audience laugh for minutes on end.
Rating: 2.5/5
