THE MANY SAINTS OF NEWARK

 

Jeri Jacquin

Currently in theatres and HBO Max from director Alan Taylor and Warner Bros. is the story of life, death and betrayal when surrounded by THE MANY SAINTS OF NEWARK.

It is the later 1960’s and Dickie Moltisanti (Alessandro Nivola) is keeping the family business going with numbers running and the help of Harold McBrayer (Leslie Odom Jr.). Taking care of his own family, he also has an affinity for his nephew Anthony Soprano (Michael Gandolfini), especially when his father Johnny Soprano (Jon Bernthal) is sentenced do a stint in prison.

Also arriving home is Dickie’s father Hollywood Dick (Ray Liotta) and his new wife Giuseppina (Michela De Rossi). As the family business moves along with Junior Soprano (Corey Stoll), everything seems to be moving along, that is until the Newark riots happen, and Harold decides it is time to take his own family business in another direction.

Anthony, in the meantime, is already showing signs of falling into bad habits with gambling and getting into trouble. His mother Livia (Vera Farmiga) turns to Dickie to help get the kid straight being the only person the kid will listen to. But as Anthony grows older, he starts to understand more and more what the family business is and how deadly it can be.

Dickie uses the riots to his advantage when an incident happens with his father and also retaliates for Harold trying to muscle into the family business territory. Now a war is brewing, and Dickie is being pulled in every direction. Turning to his Uncle Salvatore (Ray Liotta) for guidance, the one piece of advice he is given is to leave nephew Anthony alone.

All of this is enough to keep anyone occupied because boiling underneath the surface is revenge, plotting and deception, then again, that’s the family business.

Nivola as Dickie carries this film from start to finish. He is basically a crazy man going from home life to business, family issues, betrayal, and trying to be a good uncle at the same time. He is a jack-of-all-trades in his life and can not seem to master any of them. It all may look good on the surface, but it is an underlying hot mess. Nivola’s character runs hot and cold when his button is pushed and trust that that button – does not lead to a nice conclusion.

Gandolfini as a teen Anthony Soprano does his father’s legacy justice. It is clear that there is a connection between Anthony and Uncle Dickie, a closeness even his father does not have. So, when that relationship is strained, it has an impact on the young teen who is trying to discover where it is he truly wants to go in life. Gandolfini has done his father James Gandolfini proud in taking up the mantle of his own family legacy, well done young man.

Liotta as both Hollywood Dickie and twin brother Salvatore has the chance to play both the good and bad of twin brothers. Dickie turns to Sally for advice and a chance to redeem himself for the wrongs he knows he is doing and has done. I saw Sally as a Sage for Dickie, offering him advice and wisdom that Dickie never got from his own father. Liotta is marvelous in both roles, and I loved every moment he was on screen.

Odom Jr. as Harold is a buddy of Dickie’s so working together is fine, until he realizes that there is more money to be made and that Dickie’s business family see him as nothing more than the lowest of the low. Breaking away is a dangerous move but Odom Jr. takes his character and rolls him in the world that is brutal and unforgiving. Stoll as Junior seems to be the gopher of the family always beings shot down and told what to do. He takes it until he can not take it anymore and lets leave it at that.

Michela De Rossi as Guiseppina is a woman who believed that coming to America has so many possibilities. Trying to break the mold of a kept woman is difficult and she fights every step of the way. Farmiga as Livia is a woman on the edge of a nervous breakdown with her kids and a husband who does not appreciate her. Trying to keep her sanity involves Anthony trying to help with medication. She is also a fighter but it seems its always for the right thing in the wrong way.

Other cast include: Joey Diaz as Buddha, Samson Moeakiola as Pussy Bonpensiero, Germar Gardner as Cyril, Alexandra Intrator as Janice Soprano, Lesli Margherita as Iris Balducci, Talia Balsam as Mrs. Jarecki, Kathryn Kates as Angie DeCarlo, William Ludwig as young Tony Soprano, Billy Magnussen as Paulie Walnuts, Nick Vallelonga as Carmine Cotuso, John Magaro as Silvio Dante, Ed Marinaro as Jilly Ruffalo, Lauren DiMario as Carmela De Angelis, Oberon Adjepong as Fran Lucas and Chase Vacnin as Jackie Aprile.

Warner Brothers is home to one of the most successful collections of brands in the world and stands at the forefront of every aspect of the entertainment industry from feature film, television and home entertainments with worldwide distribution to DVD and Bluray, animation, comic books, videogames and broadcasting. For more please visit www.warnerbros.com.

HBO Home Entertainment brings critically acclaimed and groundbreaking programming throughout the world. Releases include the global hit Game of Thrones, True Detective, Girls, The Sopranos, Sex and the City, True Blood, The Wire and Entourage. The company's catalog contains hundreds of titles including Big Little Lies and Band of Brothers. For more of what they have to offer please visit www.hbo.com.

A little fun factoid is that the film is called 'The Many Saints of Newark' because it revolves around Dickie Moltisanti, Christopher Moltisanti's father. In English, Molti Santi translates as 'many saints'.

THE MANY SAINTS OF NEWARK is a story with so many layers trying to tell a prequel story. The characters are introduced and send about to create havoc but mainly centers around Dickie with a young Tony Soprano on the side. The film has everything you would expect with family issues, prison, revenge, twists and friendships based on nothing more than money and what you can do with it.

I have to again say that I am a huge fan of period pieces and this film dives right in from the costuming to the cars to the look and feel of the city. All of that is important to drawing someone into the world of a family who would go on to bring one of the most talk about shows on television THE SOPRANOS.

That being said, everything moves very fast giving me little time to delve into the stories and understanding each of the characters. I am not sure if that is because I only know a scant bit about the original show having only seen it a few times. So, I am going to have to binge watch the entire series and perhaps my perspective of fast paced and fragmented will change. I will keep you updated!

In the end – it’s a Soprano’s story!

 

 

 

WIZARD OF LIES Comes to Bluray from HBO

Jeri Jacquin

Coming to Bluray from director Barry Levinson and HBO Home Entertainment is an inside look at corruption and destruction with WIZARD OF LIES.

Bernie Madoff (Robert De Niro) had one of the biggest businesses on Wall Street. Known for being a wizard of making money, people from all walks of life put their life savings into investments. Along with sons Mark (Alessandro Nivola) and Andrew (Nathan Darrow), they were living the life of success.

That is until Bernie must tell his family that the FBI is investigating the business for fraud. This sets in motion a rush to see who will get the information needed or destroy the information first as the FBI raid the offices. Frank DiPascali (Hank Azaria) makes an effort to get to the 17^th floor first!

As the SEC begin their intense investigation, family, co-workers and investors begin to tell their story of how Bernie brought them all in to the business. Now called the worst Ponzi scheme in American history there is over $50 billion (yes, that billion with a ‘b’) in other people’s money gone.

Bernie doesn’t seem to understand the predicament he is in as wife Ruth (Michelle Pfeiffer) begins to see her family unravel. Mark and Andrew have all but stopped talking to their parents and brother Peter (Michael Kostroff) is make it clear to authorities that he knew nothing of what Bernie had been doing.

When the news catches wind of the story, every person who has ever invested with Madoff comes to the realization that their lives have been destroyed. Bernie and Ruth try to decide how to get free of it all in the most dramatic way possible and his sons are bombarded by the press with the allegation that they knew everything.

As the evidence mounts, there is only one thing Bernie Madoff can do, plead guilty and go to jail. Thinking that will stop everything from reaching his family, he couldn’t be more wrong as Ruth, Mark and Andrew continue to be affected by the lies Bernie told for almost twenty years.

This is the story of one man’s lies to the ruin of lives.

De Niro as Bernie Madoff is amazing to the point where I forgot it was him behind the makeup. The fascinating part of his portrayal of this man is how Madoff can not seem to grasp what he had done. There are moments where I kept saying out loud ‘you’ve got to be kidding me man!’ when he would seem to play innocent. That’s what De Niro does for a character that had me so involved in the story what I’m yelling at a man playing the character of a man I’ll never meet. Frakken awesome!

Pfeiffer as Ruth is a woman who can not even imagine that a man she spent most of her life living with was capable of such a thing. Becoming comfortable in the life that Bernie provided, she can not wrap her head around how deep the affect might be. When it all comes down fast, Pfeiffer just brings on the sadness, sass and pain that came hard. Playing opposite De Niro, she is definitely an equal partner in making this story line work.

Nivola as Mark is a son who just wanted to be a part of his father’s business. Constantly told by his father that he isn’t ready, it all begins to make sense when the FBI steps in. The bigger problem is that Mark can not get past what his father did and the public fallout. It begins to become an obsession that is tragic.

Darrow as Andrew knows the only way to get away from what his father has done is by totaling cutting his parents out. Keeping his family safe from the government and the public means doing what ever he must to set things as right as they can be.

Other cast include Kathrine Narducci as Eleanor Squillari, Steve Coulter as Martin London, David Lipman as Martin Flumenbaum, Kelly AuCoin as Agent Cacioppi, Amanda Warren as the SEC Investigator, Mark La Mura as Ike Sorkin, Kristen Connolly as Stephanie Madoff and Lily Rabe as Catherine Hooper.

HBO Home Entertainment has an extensive array of critically-acclaimed and groundbreaking programs found on Bluray, DVD and Digital HD. They have provided viewers with some of the most amazing programs with huge fan bases that include the shows True Blood, Sex and the City, The Sopranos, True Detectives, The Wire, Entourage and Game of Thrones. Launched in 1984, HBO is world wide in viewed entertainment in more than 70 territories around the world! For more of what they have to offer please visit www.hbo.com.

The WIZARD OF LIES Bluray includes the Bonus Features of In-Depth Interviews with stars Robert De Niro and Michelle Pfeiffer plus director Barry Levinson and author Diana B. Henriques. I highly suggest giving this extra a look-see!

WIZARD OF LIES is a compelling look at the story of Bernie Madoff with its twists and turns. The addition of the jail house interview with Diana B. Henriques who wrote Wizard of Lies: Bernard Madoff and the Death of Trust, adds such authenticity and draws the viewer in immediately. I have to say that I was so wrapped up in De Niro and Pfeiffer’s performances that I reacted strongly to the entire film.

Having a look inside the family there is honestly nothing that surprised me in their handling of the situation. How does a family deal with knowing that their lives and everything they believed they have worked for is all a lie? The man they trusted to lead them is a lie? I can not even imagine it.

The script written by Sam Levinson, who also wrote and directed ANOTHER HAPPY DAY, and directed by his father Barry Levinson is well done and shot beautifully. I would expect no less from the Levinson group.

In the end – only those you trust can truly betray you!