Director Barry Levinson was hot property in the 1980s and 1990s, responsible for the likes of Diner, Good Morning, Vietnam, The Natural, Rain Man and Sleepers. His output tailed off this century and he has not directed a feature in a decade. Robert De Niro has a career that is similarly on the wane, though he showed with The Irishman in 2019, with the right script and director, he could still be brilliant.
The pair team up here for the first time since 2008 in this biographical crime drama written by Nicholas Pileggi, who also wrote both Goodfellas and Casino. De Niro has the dual role as rival 1950s mob bosses Vito Genovese and Frank Costello. Genovese orders a hit on Costello. Costello survives but is wounded in the attempt and ultimately decides to retire from the Mafia.
In many ways this felt like an old fashioned film, which came as no surprise. The plot is quite dense, requiring attention and Pileggi gives time for the story to breathe. I thought that it might be distracting to have De Niro playing both lead roles, but he made them sufficiently different and he is superb as both men. Levinson directs in an unfussy way as the plot unfolds slowly but neatly.
As well as De Niro, there are a host of character actors doing good work, particularly Michael Rispoli and Robert Uricola. Alto Knights has generally been poorly received but I found it a fascinating portrayal of an unsavoury group of dangerous men.
Rating: 8.5 out of 10