Movie Review: ‘The Many Saints of Newark’ Is A Solid Cautionary Tale

by | Oct 2, 2021 | Movie Reviews, Movies, TV, TV Reviews | 0 comments


I cannot count myself as one of the millions who made ‘The Soprano’s’ into the phenomenon that it was. I’ve seen a few minutes of a few episodes, but the show came out during a time where I was graduating high school, getting married, and joining the military. So, I didn’t watch much of anything back then. However, after watching the well made prequel, ‘The Many Saints of Newark’, I’m thinking about watching it now.

In many ways, the story for this film is a coming of age one for the young Tony Soprano (a role immortalized by the late James Gandolfini, but brought wonderfully to life here by his son Michael Gandolfini) and a pretty good one, but in most ways it’s a cautionary tale. The real main character of this story is Dickie Moltisanti (Alessandro Nivola). A gangster who becomes the de facto head of a New Jersey crime family that is encompassed by Italian families the Soprano’s and the Moltisanti’s. A early voiceover by Micheal Imperioli (the actor who played Christopher Moltisanti in the TV show) eludes to a strife between the families that will eventually play out.

As with most good gangster stories, there is very little plot in this movie. The closest thing to a story is a sub plot involving the rise of a black crime boss named Harold (Leslie Odom Jr.) and his turn against the Italians. The bulk of the movie just plays out from the point of view of Dickie. We watch him commit grave sins and try to atone for them at every turn. It’s clear that he’s trying to do what he thinks is right, but he can’t escape becoming more like his father than he wants to be. His father (also named Dick) is played by Ray Liotta in the best role he’s had in a very long time. Well, the best two roles. Liotta also gets to play Dick’s twin brother and a much wiser father figure to the younger Dickie.

There is plenty of violence and sex, but the things that really resonate in this story are the consequences of actions. In the end, it’s how Dickie’s actions are being perceived by young Tony that start to make him really consider the bigger picture of his life. Sadly, we know that young Tony will one day walk in his footsteps. Which turns out to be the biggest tragedy of the whole tale.

Nathan Ligon
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