Robert De Niro stars in dual roles in The Alto Knights, a new period piece directed by Barry Levinson and written by Nicholas Pileggi.

Frank Costello (Robert De Niro) and Vito Genovese (Robert De Niro) are a pair of notorious organized crime bosses in New York and both of them want control of the New York streets. They went from being best friends to a number of years of being jealous and betraying each other. Everything changed after Vincent Gigante’s (Cosmo Jarvis) attempt was made on Frank’s life in 1957. The attempt was made a number of years following the 1950-51 Kefauver Hearings. Costello chose to testify on the condition that his face not be televised. His colleagues were having none of it because he refused to plead the fifth.

What The Alto Knights manages to do is follow their power struggles across a number of decades. Personally speaking, it’s better to focus in on a narrower set of time but that’s just me. The other thing with the timeline is that it keeps going back and forth with Costello reflecting back on this earlier period in his life. But anyway, their lives took them on two different paths. Costello was somehow able to run an organized crime operation with an outward appearance of being a professional gambler. Genovese, on other hand, lost his spot at the top and never got over it. You can really see how they were different.

Even when it came to the women in their lives, they were completely different. Bobbie (Debra Messing) and Anna (Kathrine Narducci) were strong women in their own ways. You can sense Bobbie’s annoyance with Anna when the latter’s marriage to Vito reaches a boiling point. But despite their issues, Anna is still in love with her husband, even as she files for a divorce. I’m so used to seeing the October 8 executive producer in comedic performances but after watching The Alto Knights, maybe she should be cast in more dramatic roles.

Some additional comments about Messing’s performance as Bobbie: Bobbie was Jewish in real life. As such, I love that The Alto Knights went with authentic casting and cast a Jewish woman in the role. More often than not, the push for authentic representation hasn’t seemed to include Jews so I’m pleased to see Messing in the film.

Interestingly, they opted to recreate 1930s-1950s New York in Cincinnati rather than the Big Apple. Cincinatti’s Arnold’s Bar & Grill substitutes for the Alto Knights Social Club in the film, both interior and exterior. They certainly fooled me but it also speaks to how challenging it can be to capture that particular era of the city so many years later. Production turned across the river to an out-of-business location in Covington, Kentucky for the candy store.

Having the involvement of both Oscar-winning Levinson and Goodfellas screenwriter Nicholas Pileggi is enough for The Alto Knights to pique one’s interest. The fact that De Niro is starring in dual roles is just icing on the cake. I won’t lie that there were times that I completely forgot it was De Niro playing both of them and almost had myself thinking it was Joe Pesci portraying Vito at first! De Niro isn’t quite at the level of Peter Sellers in Dr. Strangelove–he would need to be playing at least three roles in the film for that to happen.

The Alto Knights‘ combo of Barry Levinson, Nicholas Pileggi and screen icon Robert De Niro are a winning trifecta.

DIRECTOR: Barry Levinson
SCREENWRITER: Nicholas Pileggi
CAST: Robert De Niro, Debra Messing, Cosmo Jarvis, Kathrine Narducci, Michael Rispoli, Michael Adler, Ed Amaturo, Joe Bacino, Anthony J. Gallo, Wallace Langham, Louis Mustillo, Frank Piccirillo, Matt Servitto, and Robert Uricola

Warner Bros. Pictures will release The Alto Knights in theaters on March 21, 2025. Grade: 3.5/5

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