The Many Saints of Newark Review: Could’ve Been Better with Superior Writing!

Mob films were somewhat of a staple for me growing up because my dad was a fan. He liked Casino, Goodfellas, The Godfather and of course The Sopranos. I caught a few reruns with him but unfortunately, I can’t say I’ve watched that much to have profound insight into the connection to this film. Unfortunate, since The Sopranos is legendary but I definitely wanted to watch The Many Saints of Newark because it was created by the same screenwriter David Chase.

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This Sopranos prequel stars Alessandro Nivola as Dickie Moltisanti, he was a highly respected mentor and uncle of Tony Soprano who is only ever mentioned in name in the show. He is the father of Christopher Moltisanti, Tony’s protege. The Many Saints of Newark aims to give us a look at the life of Dickie and his murder while portraying his relationship with Tony played by the young Michael Gandolfini.

Rounding out the cast we have the talented Vera Farmiga as his mother Livia, Jon Bernthal as his loose screws father, Ray Liotta as Dickie’s father and Corey Stoll as Junior Soprano. Their performances were all lively and entertaining. I also liked the costuming and set.

During the 60s, African Americans and Italian American neighborhoods were pretty much at war. More and more black Americans were moving into Italian neighborhoods much to their annoyance. The various gangs and mobs inevitably got involved and while the film draws many references to this, it’s seemingly left unfinished.

The film has what every film in this genre needs. A morally ambiguous lead. Dickie is violent, cheats on his wife and is a bit of a racist and yet still, he’s painted as the hero, not just in Tony’s view but ours too. I felt like they didn’t expand all that much into the relationship between Tony and Dickie though. We never really come to see why Tony has the love and admiration that he does for Dickie.

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While I found The Many Saints of Newark to be entertaining, the story itself could’ve used some more work. It didn’t seem quite finished and at times ran the risk of becoming another throwaway mob film. All the same, I’m sure fans of The Sopranos would appreciate Dickie’s story being told and seeing a young Tony Soprano.

‘The Many Saints of Newark’ Rating – 3.25/5

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