Robert De Niro plays dual roles in Barry Levinson’s mob thriller, The Alto Knights. Did he need to play two roles? The Alto Knights is the story of two childhood friends, now mobster Frank Costello (Robert De Niro) and Vito Genovese (Robert De Niro). In the past, kingpin Vito was imprisoned for a long time, and Frank took over his territory. Now that Vito has returned, he wants to reclaim what he left behind, but time has passed, and the racketeering racket is not what it used to be. Frank has powerful friends in high places and harbors a deep disdain for the drug trade.
Upset that he can’t get what he wants from Frank, Vito puts a hit out on Frank. Though Vito’s henchman, Vincent Gigante (Cosmo Jarvis), says the bullet went into Frank’s head, Frank survived. Realizing things have gotten out of hand, Frank wants to make peace with Vito before an all-out mob war escalates. But Frank and Vito are up against a police department that wants to use Frank’s hit to delve into the “books.” Also, the Fed wants to have pieces of the potential racketeering conviction. Lastly, there’s Vito’s ex-wife, Anna (Kathrine Narducci), who sues Vito for alimony and begins spilling secrets in court.
Let’s answer the big question. Did De Niro need to play two roles? Narratively speaking…no. There’s no narrative reason they sound alike, except that Vito’s pitch is slightly higher. Why then? Playing two roles allowed De Niro to display his acting chops as two very distinct characters. Frank is pretty much De Niro. He is a straight-laced guy. He is a diplomat who maintains peace while keeping the underground world afloat.
“Frank wants to make peace with Vito before an all-out mob war escalates.”
On the other hand, Vito has a very short fuse, and all the trouble and conflict in the story centers on Vito’s spiral into insanity. I mean that Vito sees nothing but a conspiracy against him when something innocent happens. One of Vito’s rivals enters a restaurant and acts as if he doesn’t see him…whacked! Ultimately, there’s an entire discussion of whether Mormons came out of New York. Many regret Vito’s return. All this is to say that this older version of De Niro still has it. It may not be an Oscar-worthy role, but an exceptional performance nonetheless.
Here’s why I liked The Alto Knights. First is my love of mob movies and their high body count. Directed by Barry Levinson and written by Nicholas Pileggi, The Alto Knights feels like a scaled-back version of Pileggi’s greatest hits, including Goodfellas, Casino, and The Irishman. In other words, The Alto Knights has this small indie charm. We’re just telling a story here and keeping the budget low and the frills to a minimum. It’s also a more intimate story compared to the large epics typical of De Niro mob films.
Damn, I’ve been talking about De Niro all this time. The Alto Knights also boasts an incredible supporting cast of character actors. The lead dames, Debra Messing and Kathrine Narducci are great, and Cosmo Jarvis is the hapless hitman.
Speaking of not indie, there is a great deal of CG de-aging and creating photos and videos that never existed in the 50s. So you can’t win them all…sigh.
I’m pretty sure the budget for The Alto Knights was massive but within reason. The appeal here is a solid story of an aging mobster with all the charm of indie filmmaking. Sometimes, knowing that exorbitant sums of money weren’t spent makes for a fun moviegoing outing.
"…Many regret Vito's return."
