It was the summer of 1967, Tony Soprano (Michael Gandolfini) was a bright high school football player who never quite applied himself enough in school in a traditional way.  With his father in jail, he turns to his uncle, Dickie Moltisanti (Alessandro Nivola) for footsteps to follow.  Dickie, in addition to running his own crime ring, gets tangled up in a web of infidelity which does nothing but further poison the life of young Tony’ idol. As he grows older, Tony learns more about the illegal doings and has to decide where he wants to steer his own future.   

The Many Saints of Newark seeks to tell the origin story of Tony Soprano and is directed by Alan Taylor with a script from David Chase and Lawrence Konner, all of whom had worked extensively on the HBO series The Sopranos during its initial run.  As someone who – ashamedly – has not caught up with the series, it was nice to see that the film did not alienate those who are not versed in the lore of The Sopranos, though there are instances where it is clearly catering to more faithful viewers.  The biggest roadblock would be the relationship of all the characters to one another, but that is no different really than watching any other standalone feature or pilot episode of television and even then, the script gives audiences ample time to learn the names and faces. 

The film suffers a little bit, though, from its bloated script and confused marketing strategy.  The first half of the film takes place at the onset of the 1967 Newark riots, but the film uses that more as plot device and shies away from any social commentary on the topic.  To be fair, shooting was already wrapped well before the George Floyd protests that brought race relations to the forefront of the nation’s conscience but boiling down these events down into a simple plot device feels cheap.  As for the marketing, Warner Bros. was quick to tout Michael Gandolfini playing the young Tony Soprano, the role which his late father James had filled for HBO in the early 2000’s.  The film’s taglines read “A Sopranos Story” which much more accurately fits the bill than many of the reporting outlets would have led you to believe.  It works only marginally as a coming-of-age story of a boy choosing to enter the family business, and that is no fault of the film at all because it does work well as a mob flick, which at its heart is exactly what it is trying to be.  Not appearing until the halfway point of the two-hour film, Gandolfini is more of a supporting character in the story of Dickie Moltisanti. 

Alessandro Nivola carries the film as Dickie as we witness his own moral and emotional trials.  He balances the kitchen sink plot lines the script saddles Dickie with well enough, to varying degrees more so dictated by your own personal engagement with the various story threads.  Much of his plot centers on the relationship he forms with his deceased father’s trophy wife, Giuseppina (Michela de Rossi). She excels in a pretty thankless role and brings to the screen every ounce of respect and agency she can squeeze from the script.  A real firecracker, she refuses to only be seen and never heard which leads to some interesting moments over the course of the narrative.   

It is impossible to talk about this relationship without also addressing the obvious, yet within the context of the film: confounding, casting choice of Ray Liotta not only as Dickie’s father, but also as his uncle Sally who listens to jazz to pass the time while serving out a life sentence.  Dickie will visit his father’s brother often for advice after the passing of his father, but the dual casting just does not work well in this film at all.  Liotta is strongest in his performance as the paternal “Hollywood” Dick, and while his performance as the more lethargic Sally is not bad, it does not seem to do the actor any favors resulting in some of the most consistently weak scenes of the film. 

The Many Saints of Newark boasts a large ensemble cast who, across the board, all deliver strong performances.  While I can’t say one way or another how faithful they may be to the source material, they give solid work and can take command of the screen when needed.  One of the more transformative roles is Livia Soprano (Vera Farmiga).  Very much the opposite of Giuseppina, she fits well into the role of the 1960’s housewife, and the costuming, makeup, and accent work lean in as close to caricature as you can get without ever crossing into the realm of a cartoon character.  Jon Bernthal plays Johnny, her husband, and he is not as abrasive in this role as he has been cast in the past.  It is doubtful he will ever be one of the more nuanced actors of our time, but this was a step in the right direction for starting to widen his otherwise, fairly typecast resume.  

If there is one thing that was truly disappointing about the film is that it felt like it was writing the genre in shorthand.  It has its identity in its references, locations, and characters of the series, sure, but visually it looked like it could have been any one of Martin Scorsese‘s gangster films.  Scorsese sets the bar pretty high, so if that is the worst thing that can be said about a film, it’s still better than most, but at this point we have already seen this all before.  The editing is not nearly as snappy, but the set dressing, costumes, lighting, and color schemes are all so familiar.  Sharing production designer Bob Shaw with The Irishman (2019) it is not surprising, but it is still strange that they chose such an imitative style, especially considering Saints originally had a September 2020 release date – less than a year after the Scorsese picture. 

The team behind the film had an almost impossible task, returning to one of the most beloved series to ever hit the small screen.  Your mileage may vary depending on your allegiance to the series or your affinity to the genre.  The story and characters are engaging, and it focuses more on the humans pulling the trigger.  Violent, but not gratuitously so, it does the job at scratching the itch for a well put together gangster film.  Its connection to The Sopranos aside, the film does little to stand on its own, but maybe it doesn’t have to because it runs through the genre checklist better than most.