The Many Saints of Newark

 1/4

Starring: Alessandro Nivola, Michael Gandolfini, Leslie Odom Jr., Jon Bernthal, Vera Farmiga, Ray Liotta, Corey Stoll, Michela De Rossi

Rated R for Strong Violence, Pervasive Language, Sexual Content and Some Nudity

Full disclosure: I have not seen a single episode of "The Sopranos."  I own the Blu Ray box set, but haven't gotten around to watching it.  I'm wary of starting a new TV series because they are such a time commitment to see the whole story, and even if they are good, they eventually devolve into soap opera.  Still, I intend to watch it at some point, but if "The Many Saints of Newark" is a point of reference, I might not bother.

The biggest problem is that the film has no plot. At least, one that isn't coherent.  IMDb states that the film is: "A look at the formative years of New Jersey gangster Tony Soprano."  The reason the pitch is so brief is because that's all I could get in term's of plot.  Perhaps it's because the film's focus is divided between Tony (Gandolfini) and his uncle and father figure, Dickie Molisanti (Nivola).  Truth be told, Tony doesn't have a lot to do other than cause trouble.  Dickie gets the lion's share of the screen time.  Unfortunately Dickie is both unlikable and boring.  Alessandro Nivola is a fine actor, but he's tasked with the impossible: taking gangster and Joisey cliches that have become fodder for parody, and then taking them seriously.

Apart from Nivola, who still manages to impress from time to time despite the herculean hill he has to climb, the cast is littered with big names.  Jon Bernthal, Leslie Odom Jr., Vera Farmiga and Ray Liotta.  All do what they can, but I can only imagine that "The Sopranos" brand is the reason they signed on.  No one has much to do, and they aren't bringing their A game either.  Even Vera Farmiga, one of the most reliable and risk-taking actresses around, has moments where she goes over-the-top, but that may just be her character since the actress is virtually unrecognizable in the role of Tony's mother.

Defenders might say that I wouldn't get it because I haven't seen the show.  Fair enough, but this is a prequel set years before the show.  You'd think that would be a good point to jump in.  Or maybe it gets bogged down trying to cram in every character from the show in some fashion (this is what aggravate me about the superhero frenzy that has a stranglehold on Hollywood).  It's entirely possible to make a good prequel; I just replayed "Yakuza 0" after finishing the franchise and I was impressed at how well it worked.  It concentrated on the story rather than the fan service, brining in old characters only when necessary.

But the film's problems are bigger than canon or having background knowledge.  The film is far too long.  Director Alan Taylor spends far too much time dithering with a subplot involving Dickie and his mistress (de Rossi) instead of focusing on the story of his feud with Harold McBrayer (Odom Jr), his former underling.  That had potential to be interesting, although they would have had to at least try to connect it to Tony.

Perhaps I disliked this movie because I am not a fan.  That's no excuse.  A film's story and characters should always come before fan service and setting up preordained plot lines.

Comments

  1. AnonymousOctober 5, 2021 at 6:42 AM

    "I'm wary of starting a new TV series because they are such a time commitment to see the whole story, and even if they are good, they eventually devolve into soap opera."

    This is without a doubt, one of the most moronic lines I have ever read, and coming from your writing, that says a lot. You utterly fail to see the strengths televised media has compared to film, you insufferable twat. I beg you to write about something else. I'm not even saying give up on writing about film, but you need to write about other things because your film reviews are just terrible.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Desert Flower

2/4 Starring: Liya Kebede, Sally Hawkins, Timothy Spall, Juliet Stevenson Rated R for Some Violent Content, A Scene of Sexuality and Language The problem with "Desert Flower" is not that Waris Dirie's story isn't suited for the cinematic treatment or that the actress playing her isn't acceptable.  The problem is that director Sherry Hormann doesn't do a good job of telling it.  This is a poorly focused film that can't decide what it wants to be about or what it wants to say. As is the case with many a true story, the life of Waris Dirie is too amazing to be made up by a Hollywood screenwriter.  This woman fled an arranged marriage as a child, spent years as a servant to a Somali diplomat in England, survived on the streets, and was discovered by a fashion photographer while working as a janitor.  Then she became a supermodel and UN Ambassador in the fight against female genital mutilation. Waris experienced a lot in her life.  Telling it all in a...
Read more

The Road

3.5/4 Starring: Viggo Mortensen, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Charlize Theron Rated R for Some Violence, Disturbing Images and Language "The Road" has to be the most downbeat, depressing and cynical movie I've ever seen.  That's not meant as a criticism, but a fact.  This is a tough movie to get through, but not a chore.  Those who venture in will find their time well spent, albeit not in a necessarily pleasant way.  Then again, if a movie is based off a novel by Cormac McCarthy, "pleasant" isn't a word one would hope to be used to describe it. The film takes place after the world has ended.  How it happened is not explained because it doesn't matter.  But any hope of the Earth recovering from what happened has long since gone.  A man (Mortensen) and his son (Smit-McPhee) are travelling together, trying to "get to the coast."  There are few people left, although considering what many are doing with the goal of survival, that's a good thing...
Read more

My Left Foot

 2/4 Starring: Daniel Day-Lewis, Brenda Fricker, Ray McAnally, Fiona Shaw, Alison Whelan Rated R (probably for Language and Brief Violence) "My Left Foot" feels like one of those movies designed to win Oscars and nothing else.  In fact, it did win two Oscars for the immortal Daniel Day-Lewis and Brenda Fricker, but apart from their strong work, there's not much else to remember about this movie.  It's well-acted, but all in all it's pretty dull. Christy Brown (Day-Lewis) is getting recognized for his work in order to raise money for the disabled.  Despite being a talented artist and writer, Christy is not the ideal candidate for the job.  He's an alcoholic jerk who makes no secret of his lust for women nor is he above using his disability to manipulate people into doing what he wants.  Interspersed with his attempts to seduce a woman tasked with looking after him while he awaits his entrance are vignettes from his childhood.  Most notably how his mothe...
Read more