Robert De Niro pulls double duty by playing former friends turned Mafia rivals in the new crime drama.
Robert De Niro is well-known for gangster movies like The Godfather Part II, Goodfellas and Casino, and now he’s revisiting the genre with The Alto Knights.
The Alto Knights, which was written by Goodfellas and Casino scribe Nicholas Pileggi, tells the story of real-life Mafia bosses Frank Costello and Vito Genovese (both played by De Niro).
It charts the power struggle between the former friends, which takes a serious turn when Genovese orders a hit on Costello.
After the attempted murder, Costello plots his way out of the Mafia, trying to keep himself and his family alive in the process.
Double De Niro is the main draw for The Alto Knights but unfortunately, it’s nothing more than a cheap gimmick to sell tickets.
There is no narrative reason for De Niro to play both characters; they aren’t related and they don’t even look alike. So what’s the point?
The acting legend relies upon a lot of prosthetics (which could have been better) to differentiate between the two and doesn’t do much else to make them unique.
He could have used two distinguishable voices or maybe a mannerism or a quirk to set them apart but he doesn’t do anything extra beyond playing the characterisations – Costello is more measured and calm, while Genovese is the short-tempered, jealous man.
There are only a couple of scenes where De Niro faces off with himself and these should have been standout moments but they aren’t particularly memorable.
In general, director Barry Levinson (known for Rain Man) seems to underplay the drama and the tension, making the story less engaging than it should have been.
The film is also let down by some weird style choices. Sometimes Costello speaks directly to the camera as if he’s participating in a documentary.
But Levinson doesn’t commit to this format and goes back and forth between that and a traditional narrative.
As Costello tells his life story, there are flashes of newspaper headlines, throwback photographs and black-and-white footage to illustrate his background.
This is edited to the point where you’ll told so much information at a rapid-fire pace and you have to keep up.
Given the pedigree involved and De Niro and Pileggi’s history with the gangster genre, The Alto Knights should have been a home run. The fact it’s this dull is baffling.
In cinemas from Friday 21st March.
By Hannah Wales.
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