Rent The Alto Knights (2025)

Double De Niro, Half the Fun - The Alto Knights review by griggs

The Alto Knights sounds like it should be a blast–two rival mob bosses, both played by De Niro? What’s not to love? Sadly, the answer is nearly everything. The premise is decent on paper, but in reality, it’s just two hours of De Niro talking to ‘himself’ while the story trudges through a tired, episodic structure. Two minutes of action, pause, a bit of narration, then reset and repeat. It plays out like a history lesson with no real drive–“this happened, then that happened”–with little urgency or momentum. It all feels very old fashioned and not in a charming way. That said, De Niro gives it his all and clearly isn’t coasting, even if the material doesn’t give him much to work with. The dual-role gimmick wears thin quickly, and by the end, I was more interested in checking the time than who came out on top. A real missed opportunity.

Solid gangtser movie with dual roles for Robert De Niro - The Alto Knights review by AER

Robert De Niro plays two reali-life mob bosses of the 1950s - 1980s: FRANK COSTELLO and VITO GENOVESE. Alto Knights sees the return of classic 80s/90s director BARRY LEVINSON (GOOD MORNING VIETNAM. BUGSY, RAIN MAN, TOYS, SLEEPERS. SPHERE) with a gangster flick that could've been made in his hey day. De Niro gives good gangster and whilst the plot runs to very little, the script sparkles with wit as the mobsters bicker and carp about Mormons, the perfect assasination, guns and broads. There's some intentional comedy to be enjoyed as Frank Costello walking boutique dogs garmed up in mink coats through Central Park, and a polic raid on a mobster BBQ in the sticks. It's good to see a gangster flick like this nowadays, but it's something of a dinosaur. I enjoyed it, but it adds nothing to the existing collection of The Godfather trilogy, Goodfellas, The Irishman, and Levinson's own BUGSY.

Can't Fault It Too Much - The Alto Knights review by KB

I would give this film 3 & a half. Before watching, i wasn't sure how it would be with De Niro playing two roles but i didn't find it off putting & with one of the characters almost forgot it was him .Also, the average review mark was on the low side but i thought it was better than that. I did find it fairly engrossing ,which isn't always the case with modern films and although the film tension builds to a crescendo maybe the ending seemed a bit tame but i understand that it was based on a true story.

Overall a decent effort & well worth a watch.