“The Many Saints of Newark” Review
Michael Gandolfini (Left) and Alessandro Nivola star in “The Many Saints of Newark” as a young mobster in the making and his mentor in this prequel film to “The Sopranos.”
“The Sopranos” is easily one of the greatest television shows of all time and, along with “The West Wing” and “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” helped usher in the modern Golden Age of Television. Modern television frequently gets away with more realism, violence and anti-heroic characters and “The Sopranos” was one of the shows that started it all.
With that said, “The Many Saints of Newark,” a prequel to the groundbreaking series, does a great job of serving as an origin story for the beloved characters and will definitely appeal to fans of “The Sopranos.”
Set in the late 60s and early 70s, the film shows the rise of Newark mobster Dickie Moltisanti (Alessandro Nivola), a character only referenced in the show, and how he mentors his young nephew Tony Soprano (Michael Gandolfini) into becoming the character we all know in “The Sopranos.” But as multiple adversaries rise up to take power from Dickie, his empire becomes shaken and members of the crime family must take sides, including Tony.
Like most great stories set in the world of organized crime, “The Many Saints of Newark” creates identifiable characters among terrible people. Many characters from the show appear in the film, played by younger actors, and are played by great actors like Corey Stoll, Jon Bernthall and Vera Farmiga. The latter plays Tony’s mother Livia and does an incredible job making an already famous character her own. Other wonderful new additions to this world include Leslie Odom Jr. as Harold who seeks to take power away from Dickie.
The real scene stealer is Michael Gandolfini who is amazing as a young Tony, played by his late-father James in the series. While part of this is Michael’s uncanny resemblance to his father, he truly makes the role his own by bringing a youthful naivete into the world of crime as well as being completely engaged within the story. Seeing the foundation being built for one of television’s greatest characters is one of the most fascinating parts of the film and, with his career still young, it seems that Gandolfini has the makings of a great actor.
But the film truly belongs to Dickie Moltisanti and his arc from soldier to mob boss is fantastic. His relationship with Tony is moving as Dickie tries to seduce his nephew towards the family business. But his relationship with his uncle Sally Moltisanti (Ray Liotta) is fascinating as the pair meet multiple times in the prison where Sally is held as Dickie rises up. Plus, it’s always wonderful to see Ray Liotta in a mobster film again.
While I really loved this film and its sense of drama as a crime film, what may alienate viewers is how the film is really only accessible to fans of the show. Like the films “Downton Abbey,” “Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me” and “Serenity,” “The Many Saints of Newark” is not going to be as emotionally satisfying for newcomers and doesn’t stand on its own as a film.
However, I think that most people going into the film know that and are going to be people who love “The Sopranos” and, as one of those people, the film was a great companion piece for the show.
