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[NoHo Arts District, CA] – Here are this month’s movie and TV reviews of Alto Knights, Holland, (and Julie Benko at the Catalina Club!).
Some movies just don’t get the love. For instance, The Alto Knights has come in for a lot of criticism, including the presumed stunt of having Robert De Niro play not one, but two real-life mobsters, and the advanced age of its director (Barry Levinson, 82) and screenwriter (Nicholas Pileggi, 92). All this carping should not (but does) obscure the fact that this is a vital, compact, entertaining gangland film; it is by no means flashy, but it’s intelligent, well-paced, with several good performances—two of them by De Niro. He plays both Frank Costello (the more humane mobster) and his former friend turned rival Vito Genovese, a more hot-headed, volatile type (the part Joe Pesci would play if he were available—though people might think it would be too reminiscent of Good Fellas and Casino.
Alto Knights begins with a bang (with the botched hit on Costello) and neatly depicts the origins of the Costello/Genovese feud and the various events that contributed to the dissolution of their professional and personal relationship. This culminates in a nicely crafted supposition of what happened at the fateful Apalachin summit, which brought the various factions of the mob to the attention of Federal authorities. Pileggi’s script and Levinson’s direction nicely build the tension and provide layers to the friction between the two capos. De Niro does a fine job of delivering two distinct and polished portrayals, with both emerging as compelling characters in their own right. Debra Messing also gives a solid performance as Costello’s wife, and the supporting players led by Cosmo Jarvis and Michael Rispoli score as well. And don’t let the ages of the main creative forces fool you; Alto Knights is compelling throughout, a far cry from being an “old man’s film” and is worth seeking out when it comes to streaming.
Dear Nicole Kidman, As someone who admires a good deal of your work and has followed your career for thirty years (or so), I just want to say…you don’t have to take every job that comes along. I already (in a previous review) expressed my disappointment with Baby Girl. And now, Holland, written by Andrew Sodorski and directed by Mimi Cave, has caused me further sadness. I get that the character you’re playing is supposed to be this stifled housewife (and teacher) in an idealized, stylized vision of suburbia from 2000. (Though the way it’s played, it seems that you and your hubby are straight out of the 1950s.) However, the plot goes hither and yon, beginning with a scene where you fire your son’s tutor (we thought that would lead somewhere but it doesn’t), then your concerns over your husband’s frequent out-of-town business trips (as your character observes, a number of years into these trips, it does seem suspicious, considering he’s an optometrist). Enter fellow teacher Gael Garcia Bernal (who delivers the film’s best performance) as a lovelorn colleague who reluctantly agrees to help you get the goods on your husband. Only…the goods are far more devastating (and predictable) than your character could imagine—though we did. The big problem is, after a “big reveal,” the movie goes…nowhere. It meanders, then attempts to shock, and finally contributes a coda which renders much of everything that happened prior as meaningless. I mean Nicole, you’re the executive producer, couldn’t you see that when you signed on? By the way, Michael Macfayden (from Succession) is fine, but I wish he had more to do. Hope the next one is better.
Yours truly, Mike P.
Julie Benko at the Catalina Club!
And since I don’t want to end this on a downbeat note, might I add a little plug for the prodigiously talented singer Julie Benko and her two-night engagement on April 15 and 16 at the Catalina Jazz Club in Los Angeles. I’ve seen Julie a number of times, both on the “legit stage,” (she was a dynamic Fanny Brice in the revival of Funny Girl and registered strongly in Barry Manilow’s Harmony) and in her various nightclub acts, including a delightful Mardi Gras-themed show and a show dedicated to her years as a Broadway stand-by. Together with her husband, Jason Yeager, who accompanies her on the piano and in some lively banter, you are guaranteed to have a most satisfying evening out on the town, and at a reasonable price. Check Julie Benko out—you’ll be happy you did.