Dueling De Niros spar in 'The Alto Knights,' a tip of the fedora to an iconic actor

Martin Scorsese’s rueful, poignant 2019 play “The Irishman,” starring longtime collaborator Robert De Niro, was a reflection connected — oregon possibly adjacent a eulogy for — the benignant of gangster movie that the brace made famous, similar Scorsese saying farewell to the genre, ruminating connected what it means to archer stories astir men of violence.

But if you thought De Niro was out, he’s backmost successful for 1 past occupation (for now), reuniting with different predominant collaborator, manager Barry Levinson, for the mob movie “The Alto Knights,” scripted by “Goodfellas” and “Casino” screenwriter Nicholas Pileggi.

There’s a catch, a gimmick even, arsenic De Niro stars other himself, playing some Frank Costello and Vito Genovese, 2 notorious real-life Italian American mafiosi who person inspired galore movies and documentaries. It was a seismic infinitesimal erstwhile De Niro and Al Pacino shared the surface for the archetypal clip implicit java successful Michael Mann’s epic “Heat” and similar-looking scenes are presented present arsenic De Niro faces disconnected against himself, though they don’t transportation the aforesaid electricity.

As you’re reminded of each these different films, it becomes wide that “The Alto Knights” is much absorbing successful the discourse of Robert De Niro’s filmography than it is needfully arsenic a stand-alone picture. Like “The Irishman,” there’s a reflective prime to it, arsenic a meditation connected mob movies. It’s a reminder that De Niro’s beingness — arsenic an histrion and signifier of the gangster movie — looms truthful ample that lone helium could play the iconic roles of Costello and Genovese. There simply isn’t anyone other who could spell toe-to-toe with him, different than himself.

In De Niro’s instrumentality connected Genovese, sparkier and much impulsive than Costello, it astir seems similar he’s doing an imitation of Joe Pesci, his co-star successful “Goodfellas,” “Casino” and “The Irishman.” It takes a portion to sync up with De Niro’s dual performances (he’s heavy made up successful prosthetics), though to his credit, the artifice fades distant implicit the people of the moving time.

To effort and synopsize the assorted trials and tribulations of the Genovese transgression household during the archetypal fractional of the 20th period would beryllium a fool’s errand, and some Levinson and Pileggi admit that, focusing connected a fewer cardinal events successful the communicative of the longtime narration betwixt Costello and Genovese — namely, the latter’s botched deed connected the erstwhile successful 1957 — portion glossing implicit astir of their backstory successful rapid-fire montage.

The crippled is told nonlinearly and with a larger communicative framing instrumentality successful which De Niro arsenic an aged Costello delivers a documentary-style talking caput interrogation to an unseen interviewer, which serves arsenic the voiceover for the film. Levinson animates galore of Costello’s monologues astir his beingness and enactment with a blend of archival and faux-archival photographs and footage, creating snapshots of past arsenic a motion to the authenticity of this true-life tale.

These engaged stylistic and storytelling tics, arsenic good arsenic the dueling De Niros, are a spot distracting, but by the clip “The Alto Knights” arrives astatine its blockbuster scenes, it’s casual to beryllium transported by Levinson’s deft filmmaking and De Niro’s performances. While the assassination effort is the main lawsuit astir which the movie revolves, it’s a Senate proceeding connected organized transgression and then, later, an upstate New York gathering of the bosses that beryllium the astir fascinating sequences of “The Alto Knights.”

The movie sings erstwhile it’s successful action, whether it’s Costello breaking with the family’s oath of soundlessness and choosing not to plead the Fifth during his Senate testimony, oregon during an amusing country of Costello delaying his accomplishment astatine the countryside gathering to debar being gathered up successful a constabulary expanse that helium acceptable into motion. It stalls retired erstwhile it gets bogged down successful backroom conversations that dwell successful the details of betrayal and double-crosses.

But arsenic overmuch arsenic “The Alto Knights” is simply a meta-commentary connected mob movies, it’s besides conscionable a classic-feeling illustration of the genre that fans tin enjoy. It’s a dainty to ticker each these older quality actors gathered to gaffe into their wise-guy accents and Cosmo Jarvis (of “Shōgun”) is simply a standout, astir unrecognizable arsenic transgression lord Vincent Gigante.

“The Alto Knights” doesn’t rather scope the affectional and existential heights of “The Irishman,” but it has a akin tone, looking backmost connected a agelong vocation of (cinematic) violence. There’s an reflection astatine the extremity that this was the lone mode for immigrants successful the 20th period to grasp astatine the American Dream, an thought that churns wrong each American gangster movies. This curio of a movie could person gone deeper into what it means to beryllium a gangster, but its halfway themes resonate each the same.

Katie Walsh is simply a Tribune News Service movie critic.