By Gilberto Campa
Back in January of 1999 one of the most important and influential television series of all time premiered and changed the way that people perceived “Mafia life” in a never-before-seen way. It was titled The Sopranos which was developed by longtime television writer and producer David Chase, and through seven seasons and eighty-six episodes, it was all steered by the late James Gandolfini who starred as Tony Soprano. The series revolved around the day-to-day issues of Tony balancing his mob family and his actual family in the cold and restless streets of New Jersey (while venting to his shrink). Due to its popularity and interest from fans to explore the characters and story even more after its series finale in 2007, plans were in the works for a prequel to the show, but more importantly the evolution of a young Tony Soprano.
What really inspired Chase to come back to this material were memories from his childhood and visiting his Grandparents in Newark, New Jersey back in 1967. The story of “The Many Saints of Newark” takes place mostly during the riots that occurred in “The Long Hot Summer of 1967” which affected many people at the time. In addition to that, the casting of the younger version of Tony Soprano brought much attention, for very good reason. Michael Gandolfini who is the son of James was cast to play his father in an almost poetic way and will bring a lot of eyes to this movie. This is his first big breakout role, but he has been featured in some other projects such as Ocean’s 8, Cherry, and a few episodes of The Deuce.
Getting to the actual movie many familiar collaborators were brought back as David Chase wrote and produced the film. In addition, Alan Taylor who directed most of the episodes (and some of the best) of The Sopranos was hired to helm the movie as Chase described him as the one director from the series who “gave him the most headaches” in a good way. After seeing the movie, the question that popped into my mind was “what actually happened?” that isn’t necessarily a good barometer for the description of a movie. There wasn’t really any type of overall theme or connecting story that looped throughout the movie, it just felt like a collection of moments in the life of the DiMeo crime family. You really must be a true fan of the show to have a bigger picture as to what is taking place with certain characters, much of the humor was really hit or miss, and there were many things going on in terms of plot that could be difficult to put together.
The performances were solid as Alessandro Nivola, Leslie Odom Jr., Corey Stoll, Vera Farmiga, Jon Bernthal, and Ray Liotta all had their moments to shine and stand out. Ultimately the movie really falls on the shoulders of Michael Gandolfini as a coming-of-age Tony Soprano. As a fan of the series, he really was able to convey the characteristics of Tony while bringing something new to this version of the character which was a joy to watch. In hindsight, Tony is very much an observer to what his uncle Dickie (Nivola) is going through and doing and you see the tremendous impact that Dickie had on Tony and why that relationship was important. I would say that if you loved The Sopranos, you would love this film for what it is, but if you’re going in with fresh eyes this may leave you wanting something different.
The Verdict: