The Alto Knights
Robert De Niro returns to the gangster genre as the real-life Vito Genovese and Frank Costello – yes, both of them.
Double jeopardy: Robert De Niro as Frank Costello.
Image courtesy of Warner Bros.
In his long and illustrious career, Robert De Niro has been no stranger to playing mafia bosses but the latest example of that, The Alto Knights, offers something new in that De Niro is playing both of the leading characters. One of these is Vito Genovese, a man who would readily describe himself as a gangster and racketeer and the other, once a childhood friend of Vito, is Frank Costello. The latter calls himself a gambler and a businessman yet the real nature of his work was such that he became known as "The Prime Minister of the Underworld". The criminal careers of these two men were extensive and to some extent Barry Levinson’s film takes account of that but, while it touches on earlier times too, most of the narrative features events that occurred in New York in 1957. Indeed, the film opens with an incident in May of that year when rivalry had so transformed the former friendship that Genovese sent Vincent Gigante (Cosmo Jarvis) to kill Costello. In the event he only wounded him and The Alto Knights goes on to show what happened next.
Such a description may seem to indicate that The Alto Knights is very much a standard American gangster picture but that is not really the case. For one thing in 1957 both men were in their sixties so this is not a real- life tale that gives us gangsters with the kind of appeal that is linked to strong, virile personalities as was the case when Cagney and Robinson starred in such films in the 1930s. Even more significantly for a film in this genre big action scenes are relatively few in number. There is certainly violence present and one murder scene in a barber shop is very much built up neatly making use of images that mislead the viewer as to what to expect. But killings more often occur within some short montage illustrating how gang rivalry is bringing violence to the streets. Furthermore, when it comes to the film’s climax, the scene is not a big shoot-out, but a move by the police after a tip-off in which they take down the registration details of the vehicles when mobsters from all over the country attend a mass meeting. Indeed, overall one tends to think of The Alto Knights as a film largely dominated by the talk that goes on in it.
As though aware that the story of Genovese and Costello does not lend itself as readily as one might expect to the format of the standard gangster tale and needs some buttressing, Levinson and his writer, Nicholas Pileggi, seek to increase the sense of drama. This is done by frequent intercutting (the most bizarre being between stabbings shot in silhouette and a TV screening of Cagney’s 1949 film White Heat) or by the use of fast editing (the opening scene involves a fantastic number of shots to get the most out of the bid to kill Costello). Pileggi who worked on the screenplays of both Goodfellas and Casino with Scorsese is, of course, operating in familiar territory here but with so many mobsters involved there is little opportunity to round out these characters as individuals and despite the use of flashbacks the amount of history that is involved is not without its challenges. At one point indeed there is dialogue which feels specially interpolated to describe a past event in order that viewers should understand how information which has just come out in proceedings is dangerous to Costello. That we should sometimes find Costello being used in voice-over to recall earlier history is understandable and apt, but it is an odd decision to vary that by making it visual on several occasions using images which actually show Costello talking direct to camera.
The film's later stages become rather overextended but there is some effective suspense as to how genuine Costello is when, following the bid to kill him, he declares that rather than seeking revenge he wishes to get out and put the past behind him - this being a view embraced by his loyal wife (Debra Messing) although neither she nor the only other female of any note in the cast (Vito’s wife played by Kathrine Narducci) are much developed. In other gangster movies in which the action is very much the point it hardly matters if there are no characters able to claim our sympathy. In this instance, however, that is more of a concern: only Genovese and Costello themselves emerge with any real depth but even then (and despite what could be seen as a conclusion that seeks to give Costello some credit) neither man has anything to commend him. That being so, our main engagement is with the artistic pleasures that this film provides. That includes the fine wide screen photography that one expects since it is the work of the veteran Dante Spinetto, but above all it lies in watching De Niro who, aided by aptly handled prosthetics, brings all his skills to bear in bringing to life both Genovese and Costello. In some films made in his later years De Niro has had roles unworthy of his talent, but here taking on dual roles is far from being a gimmick and it has encouraged him to give two precise and carefully considered portrayals. Although The Alto Knights is certainly watchable it is in other respects hardly memorable. Even so it is not only De Niro completists who will want to see this film but anyone understandably admiring of his skills.
MANSEL STIMPSON
Cast: Robert De Niro, Debra Messing, Cosmo Jarvis, Kathrine Narducci, Michael Rispoli, Frank Piccirillo, Wallace Langham, Michael Adler, Ed Amatrudo, Robert Uricola, Joe Bacino, Anthony J. Gallo, Matt Servito, James Harkins.
Dir Barry Levinson, Pro Irwin Winkler, Barry Levinson, Jason Sosnoff, Charles Winkler and David Winkler, Screenplay Nicholas Pileggi, Ph Dante Spinotti, Pro Des Neil Spirak, Ed Douglas Crise, Music David Fleming, Costumes Jeffrey Kurland, Sound Matthew Wilson, Dialect coach Erik Singer.
Warner Bros./Winkler Films-Warner Bros. Pictures.
123 mins. USA. 2025. UK and US Rel: 21 March 2025. Cert. 15.
