Robert De Niro battles Robert De Niro in first look at his new mafia movie
Robert De Niro has done the impossible by going up against himself in the first trailer for the Alto Knights, leaving movie fans seriously divided.
The Goodfellas icon returned to his roots for the upcoming flick, directed by Barry Levinson, in which he plays dueling roles of two notorious crime bosses, Vito Genovese and Frank Costello, as they battled for control of New York.
The 81-year-old was joined in the cast by himself, Debra Messing, Cosmo Jarvis, Kathrine Narducci, and Michael Rispoli, while Wiseguy author Nicholas Pileggi wrote the screenplay.
In the gripping first-look ahead of the film’s release in March, Frank and Vito are seen having a sit-down, where the former warns that his ex pal is ‘going down a very dangerous road’.
‘And we ain’t been down dangerous roads before? But that’s the risk you take. Me? I take that risk,’ Vito spits back.
‘Let’s remember something, I put you where you are today. It’s because of me. Mr Good Citizen, you want to be like them? Come on, you ain’t like them.
‘They own this country, they’re bigger gangsters than we ever could be. You can’t have it both ways.
‘You’re either in or you’re out.’
As things explode into violence, those around them fear for what their war could mean for the future of the city.
After what feels like months of waiting, the first teaser dropped today, but some weren’t quite convinced by the scenes, branding Robert’s dual role a ‘gimmick’.
Unpacking the trailer on Reddit, MicichlorianAddict said: ‘Robert De Niro playing two unrelated mob bosses sounds more like a gimmick rather than something essential for the story.’
‘Actors playing multiple roles works when there’s enough of a visual difference for them to disappear into the roles,’ FantasticName agreed.
‘This very much looks like De Niro talking to De Niro. Maybe it’ll be fine in the final film, but that was just my thoughts from them opening on that short clip.’
Bingybong22 commented: ‘I love the topic and the era. But having him play both roles sounds like an annoying gimmick.’
‘I’m sorry but this looks dumb, why couldn’t they find someone to play the other character?,’ Far_Adaptness9884 argued.
However, others were quick to defend Barry’s choices, as LasDen penned: ‘People asking why DeNiro plays two roles, while the trailer looks actually nice.
‘I don’t know why he needed to play both, but I don’t reall care. It looks like a good movie…. [sic].’
Do_over_2024 wrote: ‘Looks good and it seems this is one of the good De Niro roles, where he’s trying, and Barry Levinson got out a great performance out of him recently in The Wizard of Lies.’
ILiveInAColdCave added: ‘It’s a clearly a formal choice that’s tied to the thematics of the piece. Whether or not that works for you is a subjective thing but it’s clearly done with intention.’
Thankfully, we don’t have too long to wait as The Alto Knights will premiere in cinemas on March 21.
The official synopsis reads: ‘The film follows two of New York’s most notorious organized crime bosses, Frank Costello (De Niro) and Vito Genovese (De Niro), as they 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.’
‘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.’
Barry previously shed light on what it was like seeing Robert take on the split roles, insisting via Variety: ‘It’s amazing. He’s such an astounding actor.
‘It was literally like two different people, like I was working with two different actors.’
The pair have worked together on a string of other projects, including Sleeper, Wag the Dog, What Just Happened and the Wizard of Lies.
The Alto Knights is released in cinemas on March 21.
Robert De Niro battles Robert De Niro in first look at his new mafia movie