The Alto Knights Parent Guide

Mob boss Vito Genovese (Robert De Niro) handed the reins to Frank Costello (also De Niro) before running off to Italy to dodge a double homicide charge. What he didn’t anticipate was the outbreak of World War II, which kept him in Italy for a decade longer than he expected. Upon his return, he discovers that Frank has built a large, stable, and mostly peaceful underworld empire. Prohibition bootlegging put Frank in close touch with the police and the politicians, and he plays a careful diplomatic game, using those contacts to protect his underworld business.

Vito is no diplomat. His time in Europe showed him the profits to be made dealing narcotics - something Frank refuses to touch. Even before their disagreement over pushing dope, Vito has always been a hothead and if Frank doesn’t give him what he wants, it’s going to get messy, fast.

I don’t have a problem with double the De Niro in a mob thriller, but I’m not really sure why director Barry Levinson decided to go that route. My pet theory is that Joe Pesci said no, so the studio figured the next best thing was another De Niro. It turns out fine, and the costuming and prosthetics always make it clear which aging Italian-American criminal he’s supposed to be at the moment, but it’s a strange choice.

The Alto Knights has all the elements you’d expect in a mob thriller, but it doesn’t quite have the punch. By the time the movie catches up with the characters, they’re old men, and Frank is pretty interested in retirement, which drops some of the energy out of the movie. People have also built some pretty high expectations for De Niro in these movies – his track record reads like a top three list of genre hits, Godfather Part II, Goodfellas, and Casino. Even with Scorsese running the show, The Irishman struggled to live up to that reputation, and The Alto Knights falls shorter still. Maybe it’s an unfair standard, but it’s hard not to think about the comparisons while you’re watching the movie.

This production has an interesting mix of negative content issues, managing to avoid sex or drug use, but featuring about as much profanity as you’d expect and a couple of bloody mob hits for flavor. Being set in the 1950s, there are also frequent scenes of social drinking and smoking, but I don’t think that’s what keeps family audiences out of these screenings.

The film accomplishes what’s expected, but even with double-barreled Bob De Niro, it never manages to do much more. As a middle tier genre offering, this show is familiar to the point that it starts to feel tired. Even with the (creatively modified) elements of a true story, the movie just never seems to find a good stride. But hey! Plenty of De Niro to go around at least.