The Alto Knights
Directed by Barry LevinsonTwo of New York's most notorious organized crime bosses, Frank Costello and Vito Genovese, vie for control of the city's streets. Once the best of friends, petty jealousies and a series of betrayals place them on a deadly collision course that will reshape the Mafia (and America) forever.
The Alto Knights Ratings & Reviews
- Kevin WardJanuary 3, 2026If not for the fact that this got shortlisted for the Oscars somehow, this movie would have been destined to be discovered in a bargain bin, 10 years from now, with us all asking “How have I never heard of this mobster movie with De Niro playing dual roles?” It’s just unremarkable in almost every way, including the make-up that garnered the recognition. De Niro is good, but he could sleepwalk through the mobster roles at this point and it’s all beginning to feel very same-y. Aside from De Niro, I thought Debra Messing was actually a stand out. Looking back Barry Levinson’s filmography is chaotic. You could do worse but, personally, I would say skip this unless you’re an oscar completionist.
- Alex | Pop Culture BrainMarch 17, 2025Are two Robert de Niros better than one? I saw The Alto Knights So here's the good and the bad without spoilers Call your dad, because his new favorite movie is about to drop The Alto Knights hits theaters Friday Directed by Barry Levinson - who has made a lot of good movies And Starring Katherine Narducci, Debra Messing, and De Niro in 2 roles It tells the true story of how the nationwide crime syndicate known as The Mafia fell in the 1950s After its two aging dons went head to head De Niro plays both of those parts and he's pretty good in both roles one of which is an impressive chameleon act thanks to the makeup and the higher voice he puts on It's kind of a cool flex for him to take this on at this point in his career And I'll shout out the congressional hearing scene in the middle of the movie Which has a lot of compelling dramatic tension and old school scenery chewing Messing is also a standout, selling a lot of the movie’s comedy with her attitude Speaking of which, this film was relatively funny in parts. I laughed a couple timesa at the Wise Guy antics And It seems like Levinson was open to some riffing and unscripted surprises Which was necessary… because otherwise this movie lacked energy for me Like these aging dons reflecting back on their careers Alto Knights felt like an echo of an echo of an echo of the better movies we've seen from these guys in this genre The script was overly complicated and convoluted It feigned towards themes of aging, old grudges, and violence versus nonviolence But because the plot took precedence, the movie ended up thematically hollow And then Levinson made some kinda baffling editing decisions He borrowed techniques from documentary filmmaking - for realism’s sake But instead those choices just created multiple layers of artifice Basically, there was a lot of wasted potential here and it's a bummer to see something That you know could have been great under different circumstances but then again, De Niro doing two roles isn't something you see every day
- oldtimewilDecember 17, 2025Deniro was amazing. Reviews don't do it justice.
- Aaron SladeAugust 5, 2025De Nero takes time off yelling at clouds about Trump to make this piece of rubbish.
- dluckhurJune 30, 2025A little history
- ebd321April 24, 2025It is definitely worth the watch. Better than I expected.
- ODDO1June 23, 2025Worst acting I have see from Robert X2
- Dennis ShowalterMay 19, 2025Found it boring really, and I so love Gagster/ Mob movies. If you seen enough of them, this movie took parts of another movie.
- LynneMay 28, 2025It's a Gangsters Paradise.
- Abe FromanApril 27, 2025Boring.
- AndreiTamasApril 19, 2025ok movie. cool gangsters.
- dhdelMay 17, 2025One of De Niro’s worst movies absolutely terrible.
- Michael McCrayApril 17, 2025The movie is decent but it ends suddenly.
- ርልዪረApril 12, 2025I'm giving this three stars because I'm into Mob history so I knew some of the story but for the uninitiated this movie could lose them with all the characters and events. Dinero, as usual, plays an excellent gangster and you get double the Bob as he takes on the dual roles of NYC Mob Chieftains Frank Costello and Vito Genovese. He does both well and even seems to channel his friend and past co star Joe Pesci in his portrayal of the volatile Genovese. He almost seems to draw from his character from Casino Ace Rothstein for his take on Costello, a man who overseas the rackets but wants to rise above the vicious world of the Mob. At times the makeup job almost convinced me they were different guys but mostly I just thought they might be brothers. As for the story, you can follow it without knowing the history but it helps if you do. The story seems rushed at times and other characters are not given much time to develop as the film tries to cram in a lot of events while keeping a pretty steady pace. In other words it's easy to get lost, (to especially if you have to use the bathroom). Overall not a bad movie, especially for Mob aficionados, but it's no Goodfellas, or even a Casino.
The Alto Knights Trivia
The Alto Knights was released on March 19, 2025.
The Alto Knights was directed by Barry Levinson.
The Alto Knights has a runtime of 2h 2m.
The Alto Knights was produced by Irwin Winkler, Jason Sosnoff, Charles Winkler, David Winkler, Barry Levinson.
Two of New York's most notorious organized crime bosses, Frank Costello and Vito Genovese, vie for control of the city's streets. Once the best of friends, petty jealousies and a series of betrayals place them on a deadly collision course that will reshape the Mafia (and America) forever.
The key characters in The Alto Knights are Vito Genovese / Frank Costello (Robert De Niro), Bobbie Costello (Debra Messing), Vincent Gigante (Cosmo Jarvis).
The Alto Knights is rated R.
The Alto Knights is a Biography, Crime, Drama film.
The Alto Knights has an audience rating of 7.1 out of 10.
The Alto Knights had a budget of $45M.
The Alto Knights has made $10.2M at the box office.