Barry Levinson's second mob drama after Bugsy (1991) is written by Nicholas Pileggi (whose non-fiction books Wiseguy and Casino: Love and Honor in Las Vegas, were famously adapted into Goodfellas and Casino respectively).
Oh, title is taken from the social club where a young Frank and Vito hung out.
Robert De Niro - Frank Costello/Vito Genovese
Debra Messing - Bobbie Costello
Kathrine Narducci - Anna Genovese
Cosmo Jarvis - Vincent Gigante
Summary
New York City, 1957.
Mob boss Vito Genovese sends his enforcer Vincent Gigante to assassinate Frank Costello, but fails.
At the hospital, it's revealed he survived because the bullet didn't penetrate his skull and miraculously exited near his left ear.
When interviewed by the police, Frank claims he didn't see his assailant.
Frank decides to retire and concede control of the Luciano family, but the ultra paranoid Vito is suspicious of his true intentions, igniting a deadly war between former best friends.
King of the rackets
While not terrible, a fascinating story is hampered by a dull script, clumsy editing and multiple scenes outstaying their welcome.
As Genovese and Costello weren't twins, placing De Niro in a dual role makes absolutely no sense.
After all, this isn't Legend (2015).
Rather than de-aging cinema legend (a la The Irishman), prosthetics are applied to Vito and voice is kinda Joe Pesci-esque.
For shiggles, Jack Nicholson's character in The Departed (an English language remake of Infernal Affairs), was Frank Costello, a fictionalised version of Whitey Bulger, who Johnny Depp portrayed in Black Mass.
De Niro arguing with himself in a handful of scenes was fun, and there's a nice take on the famous restaurant scene in Michael Mann's Heat.
As an interesting quirk, the film's cinematographer is Dante Spinotti.
Would this have been a classic if genre godfather Martin Scorsese was at the helm?
We'll never know.
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