All posts tagged: mob movies

Movie Review: Even 2 De Niros aren’t quite enough to make ‘Alto Knights’ a successor to ‘Goodfellas’ | Hollywood

Movie Review: Even 2 De Niros aren’t quite enough to make ‘Alto Knights’ a successor to ‘Goodfellas’ | Hollywood

“You’re the actor!” shouts Anna Genovese at her estranged spouse, gangster Vito Genovese, in a courtroom where he’s implausibly claiming he lacks funds to support her. “The best actor in the world! Better than Clark Gable!” Movie Review: Even 2 De Niros aren’t quite enough to make ‘Alto Knights’ a successor to ‘Goodfellas’ And we all chuckle. They probably all chuckled on set, too. Because the man playing Vito in “The Alto Knights” is none other than Robert De Niro, indeed one of the best actors in the world, revered in our time as Gable was in his. It’s a cute moment and an apt one, too, because Barry Levinson’s film, which aims but fails to channel the magic of decades-old mob movies like “Goodfellas” — though penned by the same writer, Nicholas Pileggi — is all about De Niro. Actually, it’s all about De Niro AND De Niro. The man plays both lead roles, feuding mobsters Genovese and Frank Costello, in a story based on real events. Is it a gimmick? Surely. Does it …