The Sopranos is unquestionably one of the greatest shows of all-time, IMO. I‘ve been re-watching the series leading up to The Many Saints of Newark, and the show still holds up extremely well. I hadn‘t seen some of these episodes in many, many years, but as I dove deeper into each season, I was astonished by how enthralling so many of those episodes are—over twenty years later in some instances.
Having said that…
The Many Saints of Newark was just okay… it wasn’t great, but it wasn’t absolute dog shit either—although there is a fair amount of really cringeworthy stuff in the film, IMO. It felt similar to the Breaking Bad stand-alone movie, El Camino, which was fine, but in the grand scheme of it all, was completely unnecessary fan service.
After seeing the film last night, and as I’ve thought about it some more today, I keep coming back to this… The Many Saints of Newark is simply trying to be too cute by half—and that’s the film’s biggest drawback, IMO.
Things I liked…
Having said that…
The Many Saints of Newark was just okay… it wasn’t great, but it wasn’t absolute dog shit either—although there is a fair amount of really cringeworthy stuff in the film, IMO. It felt similar to the Breaking Bad stand-alone movie, El Camino, which was fine, but in the grand scheme of it all, was completely unnecessary fan service.
After seeing the film last night, and as I’ve thought about it some more today, I keep coming back to this… The Many Saints of Newark is simply trying to be too cute by half—and that’s the film’s biggest drawback, IMO.
Things I liked…
- Gentleman Dick Moltisanti — Great character. Outstanding performance by Alessandro Nivola.
- Vera Farmiga — She killed the role of Livia Soprano… absolutely channeling Nancy Marchand in many scenes.
- Teenage Anthony Soprano — Michael Gandolfini was superb. He tapped into so many of the subtleties of the iconic character that his father helped craft.
- Ray Liotta — This is a bit complicated, as Ray Liotta will also appear in the things I *didn’t* love section as well, but I thought he was great in the role of Dickie’s uncle. A well written and really thoughtful performance.
- The Twist — That was 100% Junior Soprano. Spiteful and vengeful to his core. Heartbreaking scene for young Tony at Holsten’s the next morning.
- The Plot — Disappointing. Unremarkable. The pacing of the film felt disjointed, IMO.
- The Writing — Kinda spotty. It was great at times, but overall, it was mostly uneven. This was probably the most shocking flaw of the entire movie. Some of the scenes came across as parody—like a series of bad SNL sketches pieced together to tie the film together.
- Silvio Dante — This character was a walking SNL sketch. There is some inherent parody to the way Steven Van Zandt played the character in the series, but this was way too heavy handed fan service, IMO.
- Hollywood Dick Moltisanti — Liotta should’ve just played the role of Uncle Sal, because pulling double duty in this movie was a bad casting choice—and a tad bit lame. His death scene was ridiculous too.
- Giuseppina — The character was a thinly developed sketch of a would-be independent woman, so in the end, I didn’t give a shit about her.
- The Ending — Pure cheese. When the show’s theme song kicks in at the end… on top of the pinky swear… I literally rolled my eyes.
- The Christopher Moltisanti Voiceover — This felt so out of place. The first scene is jarring… I’m sitting there thinking—WTF is this?
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