The Many Saints of Newark – An Overstuffed Prequel (Early Review)

The Sopranos is one of the best television series of all time, following the exploits of the New Jersey mob boss Tony Soprano played by the legendary James Gandolfini who passed away 6+ following the series finale in 2007. Amassing legions of fans, some sort of continuation of the franchise was inevitable but it was all about timing. The advent of Gandolfini’s son Michael, an up-and-coming actor, who just happens to hold a striking resemblance to his famous father was certainly not a coincidence. Those hoping that he would follow in his father’s footsteps will literally get their wish as he assumes the role of the younger version of the character that put his father on the map in The Many Saints of Newark, a Sopranos prequel film. However, those looking for a pure Tony Soprano prequel story will surely be disappointed as the film takes a more macro approach in establishing the world and the circumstances that led to his rise while mostly leaving him on the periphery. That being said, fans of the original series are likely to have a blast here as the film offers plenty of Easter eggs and references that will catch their eyes. On the other hand, its overstuffed story, cramming a surplus of characters and story over the course of its 2 hour running time, makes for a thin and rushed experience better served as a miniseries than a standalone feature film.

The Many Saints of Newark takes place during a clamorous time as rival gangsters challenged each other for power in the midst of a race war erupting across Newark. Meanwhile, young Antony Soprano (Gandolfini) was smitten by his uncle Dickie Moltisanti (Nivola), the only real father figure in his life, as he watched him balance his professional life as a businessman and mobster and his crumbling personal life. The power of Dickie’s influence was undeniable while their bond was a powerful one as they each filled voids within the other’s lives. Audiences, familiar or not with the original series, more or less already know where Antony will end up but his overall character arc left much to be desired as he was mostly pushed to the side in favor of Dickie for whom took most of the focus here. The story saw him struggle to maintain his empire as he saw it challenged by Harold McBrayer (Odom Jr.), one of his former associates who became inspired by the recent uptick in the fight for racial equality and wanted to carve a path for himself within a city caught in a stranglehold by the Italians. What made for an interesting contrast on paper went largely unexplored.

Moments of teenage angst and curiosity on the part of Antony broke up Dickie’s subplot which was fine but the majority of the other characters were more distractions than anything else. If anything, The Many Saints of Newark simply has too much going on amongst its characters and subplots that anything beyond the main storyline was difficult to care about in the grand scheme while the characters for the most part were thin and essentially irrelevant. Out of all the film’s parts, Dickie and Antony were the only ones that were remotely interesting as the former served as a vehicle for the film’s world building without ever going into that much depth on a character level and the impressionable later was interesting if not for curiosity’s sake despite the lack of depth there as well. Though the only character to remotely get a semblance of an arc was Dickie, it never quite landed. To him, it was all about maintaining his reputation in the end. However, that reputation had little foundation to fall back on.

While the characters were thin and the story was rushed, the best part of The Many Saints of Newark was its performances. The chemistry was there though many of the big name roles amounted to cameos for the most part. For having the most screen time, Nivola, Odom Jr., and Gandolfini were the standouts as Dickie Moltisanti, Harold McBrayer, and Antony Soprano respectively. Nivola and Odom Jr. were worthy adversaries with worthy motivations but the film was lacking enough of that contentious relationship. Nivola got the majority of the focus and did a decent job carrying the film with his charisma and screen presence, making for a compelling character to watch in spite of what little he had. The same can more or less be said about Odom Jr. except for less screen time he had to do it. Gandolfini showed signs of promise in limited screen time, being held back at the expense of the rest of the story.

At the end of the day, The Many Saints of Newark will likely appeal more to fans of the original series more than anything else and it will go as far as they take it because as a film, it fails to set itself apart within the crime drama genre.

still courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

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Keith Noakes

The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.