“Sopranos” prequel movie “The Many Saints of Newark”*

He dialed it in, for sure. Not clear why--whether it was because his heart wasn't in it or external influences or too many promises made to too many people. I don't think Sopranos could have been made today with its unapologetic racist and sexist themes. And those themes should have been even stronger in a show about Italian American gangsters in the '60s and '70s--not weaker.

 

Really? What's the problem with depicting racism and sexism? Those are staple subjects in contemporary TV and cinema.

 

You could never do it in a complex way where the person exhibiting these behaviors was anything other than an utterly despicable villain.

Tony had his despicable moments for sure, but I believe that Chase still wanted him to be likable on some level.

 

Well, he was supposed to be a saint.

 

Umm, of course: Tony is an anti-hero. That's something that's existed in storytelling since time immemorial - from the Ancient Greeks through Shakespeare to the present time. "No one knows what it's like to be the bad man..." It certainly hasn't disappeared from the general culture. Didn't we just have the Joker movie a few years ago, where we are made to empathize with - or at least understand - a villanious character? I'd say that morally ambiguous protagonists is rather turning into a cliché these days.

 

The Joker wasn't racist or sexist, IIRC. Those are no-nos...violence is fine as usual.

Look at the Stones set in 2021: "Midnight Rambler" is still around. "Brown Sugar" is outta there.

 

You're saying that it's not possible for contemporary cinema and TV to have an anti-hero express racist or sexist views? Off the top of my head, I can think of Michael Scott in The Office, who is a typical anti-hero whose sexist attitudes the show's humor depends on. But that's been off the air for a while. What about Family Guy? Peter Griffin is definitely an anti-hero.

 

You have a point, I'm afraid. Something like All in the Family could not be done now.

 

There's actually not much good I can say about the movie. Bordering on a fiasco, considering the legacy and the writing and directing talents involved.

Maybe the best thing is the acting experience for James Gandolfini's son. Maybe he'll be a good one. Might want to do something better with the hair.

The actor who played Tony's mother was good.

 

wasn't this movie a period piece? : )

 

I bailed on this movie.

 

This was so bad, I had to watch the whole thing, not to see it improve, but confirm it would get even worse.

I love fan service, but this made me audibly groan multiple times. The worst was crying baby Christopher and then the explanation why he might be crying. For crying out loud!

Junior was one of the main guys in that era? Could have fooled me. What did he even do?

Dickie and Johnny were heads of their nuclear families, but I got no indication they led anything else.

Only child Tony had varsity potential.

If the true idea was that Christopher was an unreliable narrator, he was also a dull narrator. Maybe some other character can narrate next time and we get a good story.

 

Anyone who makes it the end, should become a made man. Watch it twice and they get whacked for stupidity.

 

I watched this the other night , I thought it was really bad and loved the sopranos right the way through. It’s probably a bad idea to re visit something that is talked about as possibly the best TV series of all time even if It was done by David Chase.

 

I feel like even with these story threads, a miniseries at least could've made it feel more fleshed out. As a film, it is neither interesting as a Sopranos prequel nor as a standalone film.

 

I agree it was poorly done. The only positive was seeing Gandolfini's real son. Should have shown more of Jr. and more of how Tony actually gets pulled into the life.

 

i watched it recently during a flight . it was not very good indeed and the storyline was confusing .
What i did not get was Paulie / Silvio / Puss having such an age gap with Tony ?

 

What a debacle.