The crime genre continues to be a hit or miss for Hollywood in the modern day. Even with Robert De Niro’s slight resurgence in the 2020s, his success hinges on who he decides to collaborate with. After The Irishman proved that De Niro still works best with Martin Scorsese, the legendary actor continued his reunion with Scorsese in 2023 with Killers of the Flower Moon. What these films have in common is a Scorsese factor that simply doesn’t exist with every film De Niro decides to do. Robert De Niro’s prolific career has continued to solidify his status as arguably the greatest actor of all time. However, De Niro is no stranger to duds and flops, especially in the 21st century. His most recent collaboration with director Barry Levinson is another example of a movie that should’ve been better than it was.
Aside from The Alto Knights being a box office flop during its initial release, the film itself is incredibly flawed in a number of ways that keep it from being a contemporary Mafia epic that fans would adore. There are a few reasons why The Alto Knights doesn’t hold up as a modern crime epic with deeply interesting talking points. The one positive takeaway the film does have is actually the performances and leading performance of Robert De Niro. He and his cast mates are not the problem but instead a strength of the film. The Alto Knights failed for a much more fundamental reason that should’ve been fixed much earlier in the film’s production.
Shaky Structural Choices Hurt The Alto Knights the Most
It’s always going to be hard trying to tell stories that fans have seen many times before in some form or another. That is not something that tends to change in any drastic way when it comes to cinema. At this point, there have been so many iterations of the same kind of movie that audiences expect repetition in film. However, occasionally, a writer or a filmmaker tries to do something new within a genre fans are familiar with. At the end of the day, it’s really all about telling a version of something familiar that fans will be surprised and excited by. The Alto Knights has some of this going for it. Between Robert De Niro’s dual roles and an important event in the Mafia’s history, The Alto Knights has an inventiveness and originality. However, because of the historical figures the film focuses on, there is a clear point of emphasis for the story’s most important relationship. For some reason, The Alto Knights tries to emphasize other moments more specifically.
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Not every filmmaker needs to take the “Scorsese approach” to gangster movies. The only person who should be doing that is Martin Scorsese. However, since Barry Levinson’s new film focuses on key Mafia figures from New York and stars Robert De Niro, he believed a flashy, non-linear structure would work well for The Alto Knights. For key figures Frank Costello and Vito Genovese, the most important moment in their long friendship is when one friend betrays the other. The failed hit on Frank Costello is a defining moment in the Mob’s history that led to the end of the organization’s “Golden Age.” This moment has an incredible effect on the historical story being told and should be saved for the end of the movie. It is a late second-act plot point that would propel a conclusion to the film. Instead, Levinson and writer Nicholas Pileggi decided to show this moment in the movie’s opening sequence and then cut around multiple timelines and build to a moment less captivating for an audience. The disjointed structure of The Alto Knights is, without a doubt, the film’s biggest flaw.
The Structural Mistake Isn’t the Only Flaw in The Alto Knights
Nicholas Pileggi isn’t a stranger to mob stories or the mob’s history in America. As a regarded novelist of multiple gangster books and a co-writer on hit films such as Goodfellas and Casino, Pileggi should’ve known better how to handle a story like The Alto Knights. Die-hard fans of mob history know that the Apalachin Meeting was a big deal for the Mafia, but in retrospect, the event has lackluster appeal as a climactic scene in a film. This moment should not have been built to as much as the Costello hit. Then, there is the element of a continuing absence in gangster movies some fans are sick of experiencing. There’s no good reason why the most influential mafia figure in history outside of Al Capone is continuously disregarded when telling historical mob stories. That figure is Charles “Lucky” Luciano, who basically created the modern-day mafia as people know it. Luciano is mentioned twice in passing in this film but is otherwise ignored. Frank Costello and Vito Genovese were connected by being Lucky Luciano’s underboss and consigliere during the New York “Luciano Family’s” original inception. Luciano was also an active player in orchestrating the Apalachin Meeting, which Pileggi and Levinson were keen on portraying.
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The Alto Knights feels like a big-time Mafia epic that is missing important pieces of its own story. Furthermore, the muddled character motivations, fourth-wall-breaking narration and gimmicky set pieces don’t help the disjointed feel of the film at all. There was a way to do a “Genovese Family” epic, but The Alto Knights failed for the most part. While Robert De Niro’s dual performance is compelling at times, and his presence is undeniable, it’s not enough to save The Alto Knights from feeling like a poor rip-off of Scorsese’s The Irishman. With that being said, The Alto Knights could have been a good rip-off of the 2019 instant classic by simply telling the story in the right way. The Irishman is a story about betrayal as well. but it does a much better job of fleshing out the importance of the central relationship in the film, allowing the betrayal to have a greater impact. The Alto Knights is missing some key heavy-hitting stars that could have played other crucial roles in the movie and should have spent most of its time developing the friendship and history of Frank Costello and Vito Genovese. With the right tension and pace, Vito Genovese’s betrayal of Frank Costello would have been a worthy climactic event that fans would be affected by.
The Alto Knights Is Still an Entertaining Ensemble Piece
Despite its flaws, The Alto Knights has one strength that can’t be denied, and that’s its performance-driven narrative. Even though the film falls apart in the last thirty minutes, Robert De Niro is engaging throughout most of the story, and his strong supporting cast outshines him at times. The Alto Knights is definitely still missing a few stars that would have heightened the film to a greater level. Still, the cast does a great job carrying the story forward and making many scenes compelling, emotional and funny. With up-and-coming star Cosmo Jarvis (Shogun) playing Vincent “Chin” Gigante and gangster genre alumni such as Michael Rispoli and Kathrine Narducci supporting De Niro, The Alto Knights remains entertaining. Jarvis, alone as “Chin” Gigante, makes the film that much more hilarious. Every interaction with De Niro’s Genovese brought an extra element of entertainment that reminded fans of some of their favorite gangster movies.
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Perhaps the most surprising performance in the film is by Debra Messing as Bobbie Costello, who brings a ton of emotion to the story. Messing is not someone fans expect to see in a gangster movie, but she brings a lot of substance to her role and the overall drama of the film. Robert De Niro feeds off Messing incredibly well and makes audiences care the most about the Costello character. De Niro also does a good job with his challenging dual role experiment, even if it doesn’t ultimately pay off in the end. It’s a shame that some simple writing adjustments, a deeper cast and a cohesive structure could’ve made The Alto Knights a much better movie than it turned out to be. Fans could imagine what this important historical mob story would have been like with a more accurate telling, a few more big-name stars and maybe even a different director. Despite its poor $3 million debut at the box office, The Alto Knights isn’t as bad as it’s perceived. It just suffers from one glaring mistake.
The Alto Knights
- Release Date
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April 21, 2025
- Runtime
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120 Minutes
- Director
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Barry Levinson
- Writers
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Nicholas Pileggi
- Producers
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Irwin Winkler, Jason Sosnoff, Charles Winkler, David Winkler, Mike Drake, Barry Levinson
Cast
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Robert De Niro
Vito Genovese / Frank Costello
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Debra Messing
Bobbie Costello
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Kathrine Narducci
Anna Genovese
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Cosmo Jarvis
Vincent Gigante
