THE MANY SAINTS OF NEWARK
Director: Alan Taylor
Starring: Alessandro Nivola, Michael Gandolfini, Leslie Odom Jr, Ray Liotta, Vera Farmiga, Billy Magnussen, Corey Stoll, John Magara, Michela Dr Rossi, Jon Bernthal
Fans of The Sopranos have been begging series creator David Chase for more since the finale aired 14 years ago. He has written a story that should please fans as he opens this world up to a time decades before Tony Soprano would leave a lasting impression. In his film, The Many Saints of Newark, a young Tony Soprano always looked up to his uncle Dickie Moltisanti, played by Alessandro Nivola. The name Moltisanti means Many Saints in Italian and Dickie ran the neighborhood. Times are changing against the backdrop of the Vietnam War and racial tensions start to build in Newark leading to riots and looting in the city. One of Dickie’s former hitmen, Harold McBrayer (Leslie Odom Jr) has big plans of his own going against the local Italians. The walls start crumbling around Dickie and a precocious teenage Tony Soprano, who’s played by Michael Gandolfini in the second half of the film, continues to be shaped by the uncle he once idolized. In theaters and streaming on HBO Max
Here’s my review
An check out my interviews with this incredible ensemble