Staci Layne Wilson’s The Many Saints of Newark review says The Sopranos prequel should please fans, but it might confuse newbies.

I’ve been a devotee of the mobster TV series The Sopranos since the show debuted on January 10, 1999, and I saw every episode until its famous “blackout” ending on June 10, 2007. A couple of years ago, I watched it all over again and liked it just as much. And now—bada-bing!—I’ve seen The Many Saints of Newark, the long-awaited prequel. As a fan, I enjoyed it; as a film critic, not as much.

The Sopranos creator David Chase wrote the screenplay and it’s helmed by series director Alan Taylor. The Many Saints of Newark is set in New Jersey in the ’60s and ’70s and is meant to provide the backstory on how Tony Soprano became who he was. The role was originated by the late, great, James Gandolfini, and is now played by his son, Michael Gandolfini (who, coincidentally, also debuted in 1999).

While The Many Saints of Newark does deliver on its promise to show the shaping of the future made man, the film is firmly focused on Tony’s father figure, Dickie Moltisanti (Alessandro Nivola), one of the local mob leaders and uncle to young Tony (then called Anthony).

This plotline is set up in the very beginning, at, appropriately enough, a cemetery plot. It’s the grave of Dickie’s son, Christopher (Michael Imperioli), and he explains in voiceover that he was whacked by Tony (um, spoiler alert if you haven’t seen the series), then goes on to set up the story of his powerful but unfortunate family. (Molti Santi translates as many saints; hence, the film’s ironic title). Christopher’s voice, while understandable in context, still feels somewhat inauthentic; there wasn’t any narration in the series, so it is out of place here.

Dickie hasn’t quite taken Anthony under his wing yet, as the tale begins when his “nephew” is a pre-adolescent. But he does watch over the Soprano family while its patriarch and DeMio Family capo, Johnny Boy (Jon Bernthal) is doing time. Anthony’s histrionic, over-critical mom, Livia (Vera Farmiga), is barely holding it together trying to raise her son and two daughters, Janice (Alexandra Intrator) and Barbara (Lexie Foley), without her husband.

Dickie also has his own blood family to worry about. His larger-than-life dad, Aldo, his barely-there wife, and his forbidden lover on the side (she’s more than just a goomar) are giving him grief in various ways. Never seen in the series’ occasional flashbacks to the era but spoken of with awe, “Gentleman Dick” Moltisanti was remembered and revered by all—so, needless to say, an actor with charisma and gravitas had to play this all-important role. I would not have thought of Nivola, but he does an excellent job and carries the picture well.

In fact, the whole cast is great. Farmiga is a perfect Livia, and Carey Stoll steals every scene he’s in as the bumbling, bespectacled, but very deadly Junior Soprano. We also see other familiar, younger faces, including Paulie “Walnuts” Gualtieri (Billy Magnussen), Silvio “Sil” Dante (John Magaro), and Salvatore “Big Pussy” Bonpensiero (Samson Moeakiola).

As a fan, the above stuff is the most fun. But looking at The Saints of Newark with a more critical eye, I find it somewhat lacking. I am not sure if anyone who hasn’t seen the show will get what’s going on; it really is all over the place. Chase and Taylor do give each of the many characters a moment, but instead of giving insight, these only add another coat of paint. The sex, violence, and humor you’ve come to expect from watching the series are here, but those tropes are not quite as striking this time around.

A race riot subplot, while integral to the tale, feels shoehorned in to introduce the Black crime families. A captivating Leslie Odom Jr., as the ambitious Harold McBrayer, is always a welcome addition to any film but his role here is woefully underwritten. At least it does serve to underscore Tony’s later prejudice, as we see, through his younger eyes, how the DiMeo syndicate began to lose its grip in New Jersey due to feuds between the established Italian-American mafia and the up-and-coming African-American-led crime families. But in truth, the DiMeos dug their own graves (so to speak) by undervaluing and underestimating their former partners.

There are a couple of intriguing and gripping new plot threads introduced—we see Ray Liotta in dual roles as Dickie’s doomed dad, and as his incarcerated uncle and reluctant confessor, “Hollywood Dick.” It’s always fun to see him in bad guy roles. And then there’s Michela De Rossi as Dickie’s very young, attractive Italian stepmother, Giuseppina, who sends him on an unstoppable, and believable, downward spiral.

The period soundtrack is fun. Anthony is a budding music fan, channeling his future self as he rocks out to The Stones, Van Morrison, and more (yes—the series’ theme song, Woke Up This Morning, is featured as well). The costumes are authentic without being “costumey” and the set design is spot-on. However, the cinematography is obviously digital and some of the CGI is pretty shaky—the look is quite a let-down when compared to visual mafia masterpieces like The Godfather or Goodfellas (then again, The Sopranos was always meant to look more mundane).

Like the series, the film ends on an unfinished note. I am not sure if a The Many Saints of Newark sequel has been announced, but it definitely needs one that delves deeper into the making of Tony Soprano.

Rated R
2 Hours

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Staci Layne Wilson’s The Many Saints of Newark review says The Sopranos prequel should please fans, but it might confuse newbies.