Robert De Niro Transforms Into Dueling Mafia Bosses in Barry Levinson’s Mundane Crime Saga ‘The Alto Knights’

Alci Rengifo

Barry Levinson’s “The Alto Knights” has the feel of an aged band getting back together to perform their famous hits. It is basically a tired celebration of a classic form of gangster movie, bringing back Robert De Niro to play dual versions of a character he’s done often. We get two historical crime bosses for the price of one. Levinson himself is no stranger to this genre, as a seasoned director also returning to familiar mean streets. Even its writer, Nicholas Pileggi, is best known for writing two of Martin Scorsese’s most famous mob dramas, “Goodfellas” and “Casino.” How engaging you find this movie depends on how much you like this kind of storytelling and these characters. 

Pileggi’s screenplay is another one of those grand narratives where the mafia becomes a metaphor for subterranean American history. It begins in 1959 when Frank Costello (De Niro) nearly survives an assassination attempt while exiting his New York apartment building. Frank is sure it was the work of old friend turned rival Vito Genovese (also De Niro). The two became friends as young Italian immigrants in early 20th century New York, adapting to American life without little schooling but soon finding an avenue to make money through bootlegging, as Prohibition was in full force. They rise through the ranks of the infamous Commission, via the crime family headed by the notorious Lucky Luciano. When Vito has to flee to Italy to avoid arrest, finding himself stuck there all through World War II, Frank is left in charge of their criminal empire. After making his way back to the U.S., Vito is feeling left out of the gains Frank has made as a big boss, setting the stage for a showdown.

There is a unique angle to how Levinson and Pileggi approach this Cosa Nostra feud as between two elder mobsters, avoiding the usual rags to riches story arcs. These are criminals in twilight, not the headstrong dreamers of Levinson’s “Bugsy” and “Sleepers,” or Pileggi’s ruthless enforcers in the Scorsese movies. In any other business, Frank and Vito might already be retired and doting on their grandchildren. While most of the narrative is on complete autopilot, recounting events like a documentary as opposed to a visceral experience, it looks good thanks to the rich cinematography by Dante Spinotti. Another veteran of crime sagas, Spinotti’s credits include some real underworld classics like “Heat” and “L.A. Confidential.” This is also a case of the editor stealing thunder from the performances. Douglas Crise’s work has more fireworks in the way he uses stock footage from the Prohibition era to create a gritty portrait of the era.

Most chatter will of course focus on the De Niro performance(s). On the surface it reads like a fascinating experiment. Relying on makeup, which does work better than digital deaging, he really does evoke two different men. Frank is the more level-headed boss, less prone to losing his temper while Vito is an aging hothead cheerfully muscling people around. He marries the attractive, strong-willed  Anna (Kathrine Narducci), who then has to deal with his chauvinism. Frank is such an opposite that with wife Bobbie (Debra Messing) lives quite the bland lifestyle. De Niro’s Manhattan gangster accents for both men have distinct personalities, yet still feel like the old pro phoning in a persona he could do in his sleep. It’s a lot of sitting in diners, shrugging and talking about percentages owed and who might need to get whacked. Levinson and Pileggi don’t go for some of the paranoid fun. For old time’s sake they should have recycled the stories about Havana or JFK assassination plots. Missing is the sweep of Levinson’s “Bugsy,” where Warren Beatty as Bugsy Siegel dreams up Las Vegas while conning his way through life. Pileggi did poisonous friendships so well in “Casino,” entrapping Robert De Niro’s sharp casino boss with a deranged thug played by Joe Pesci. 

The various pieces of this movie can be fascinating but also sluggish, the latter becoming the ultimate fault of “The Alto Knights.” As a character study there is a briefly intriguing, melancholic tone to this damned friendship. We can still enjoy the little familiar details all these stories contain about these guys always carrying rolls of cash in their pockets. There is some quirky humor in a scene where the country’s top mob bosses meet in a rural New York estate and then scream like teenagers when someone spots the cops. The subdued climax is meant to inform us on just how FBI director J.Edgar Hoover was finally cornered into admitting the mafia existed, but the twist that opens Pandora’s Box is a sleepy head scratcher. It’s also so mundane. More engaging is the story’s subtext about immigration and the way Italians facing discrimination and the need for assimilation in America formed such an intricate enterprise with barely any education. There are ideas in this movie. They just wallow in a well-made but subdued final product.

“The Alto Knights” releases March 21 in theaters nationwide.