Stars: 4/5
I had always heard of David Chase’s landmark series, “The Sopranos,” but it wasn’t until the summer of 2019 that I decided to press play on the pilot. Immediately, I was hooked. Combining elements of dark comedy and gangster violence, the intergenerational epic series centered around Italian-American mob boss Tony Soprano, played by the late James Gandolfini. It became one of the most iconic pieces of media I have ever seen as it explored the downfall of contemporary America, addiction, suburban life, mental illness and organized crime through the lens of a nuclear family living in New Jersey.
I was incredibly amped yet skeptical to hear about the idea of a prequel film from Chase and veteran director of the series, Alan Taylor. I just prayed that it wasn’t a misfire.
Thankfully, “The Many Saints of Newark” feels, looks and breathes exactly like an episode of the show. It tells its own tragic story forged from the fires of the iconic series. Unlike most prequels, there’s little effort to shove in fan service and the performances of established characters feel like overt imitations that nail the mannerisms and voices in the best way possible. It’s a stunning standalone film that I’d harken to an attentive drama which you have to pay attention to truly soak in.
Revolving around Richard Dickie Moltisani, played by Alessandro Nivola, the prequel threads together stories about generational trauma, the race relations between Italian-Americans and African-Americans set against the backdrop of the New Jersey race riots of 1967 and how Tony Soprano, played by Micheal Gandolfini, became inducted into the DiMeo crime family.
Performance-wise, the acting is amazing. Nivola is simply excellent as Dickie Moltisanti, whose surname translates to “Many Saints” in Italian, as he lights cigarette after cigarette and stirs up trouble through the streets of Newark. Leslie Odom Jr., Vera Farmiga, Corey Stoll, Billy Magnussen, Joe Magaro, Ray Liotta, and Michela De Rossi were all fantastic too. However, it’s Gandolfini’s role as Tony Soprano that stole the show for me. He inherits his father’s role with grace, providing the character with a never-before-seen sense of nerdiness, innocence and creeping malevolence. It was truly special to behold.
Plot-wise, the film balances a lot, which is indicative of its abrupt editing. The only sin of “Many Saints” is that it left me wanting more. I believe it would’ve been much better suited as a miniseries than a two-hour film.
Nevertheless, I was impressed by its allure because I found myself completely absorbed in this new set of characters in the same way I did when I watched the show. I felt truly invested in characters I had never seen throughout the duration of “The Sopranos” 86-hour runtime, although familiar faces popped up here and there. Perhaps the best element of “The Many Saints of Newark” is that it surprisingly furthers the narrative of “The Sopranos.” It’s one thing to hope for something, but to receive it is a blessing in and of itself.
In season four, episode 10 of “The Sopranos,” Tony laments to his therapist Dr. Jennifer Melfi, played by Lorraine Bracco, about what happened to the stoic masculine figures of old America.
“Whatever happened to Gary Cooper? The strong, silent type; that was an American. He wasn’t in touch with his feelings, he just did what he had to do,” Tony Soprano asked.
“The Many Saints of Newark” provides the answer to this question through Dickie Moltisanti. As the film slogan states, he is the man who made Tony Soprano. All of Molti Scunti’s actions and motivations throughout the film mold Tony as a man and are later inherited by him. Molti Scunti’s charming disposition, wisecracking, leadership, hostility and violent temper, all point to Soprano’s makings in the series. Christopher Moltisanti’s origins are also explored, which is implied by a final chilling shot, Michael Imperioli’s narration and an awesome callback to the series’ theme song “Woke Up This Morning” by A3.
In short, “The Many Saints of Newark” does so much more than portray the rise of Soprano. Even without prior knowledge of the show, the film has no problem standing on its own two legs, delivering a terrific origin story in stolen truck loads.
For “Sopranos” fans, “Many Saints” recontextualizes the landmark series as a whole, telling a story about the inescapability of trauma that reverberates up and down the streets of Newark. There’s history in every nook and cranny of America and the history of “The Sopranos” can be found here, within the ravaged space of the Moltisantis of New Jersey. I loved it and I cannot wait to watch it again.
One last thing, please make sure to eat some gabagool immediately afterward.