The Many Saints of Newark (2021)

The Many Saints of Newark has the rare pleasure of feeling like a living memory—smoky, tense, and richly detailed—pulling you into a Newark where the street corners hum with history and every smile carries a threat. It’s powered by terrific performances: Alessandro Nivola gives Dickie Moltisanti a magnetic, haunted charisma, Michael Gandolfini captures the dawning shape of Tony with uncanny ease, and Leslie Odom Jr. brings a sharp, simmering presence that keeps the air charged. The film plays like a moody crime ballad—part coming-of-age, part gangland elegy—more interested in atmosphere, character, and the slow turn of fate than in tidy plot mechanics. If you want a lean, standalone mob thriller, it may feel shaggy, but if you’re in the mood for an immersive, compelling slice of Sopranos-era DNA, it’s rewarding and thoroughly entertaining.

The Many Saints of Newark is clearly trying to give Sopranos fans a gritty origin story, mixing Newark’s unrest with old-school mob drama and the early forces shaping Tony. The problem is it often feels like two different movies fighting for space, with choppy pacing, thin character arcs, and a plot that keeps circling instead of building to something satisfying. If you’re hoping for the show’s razor-sharp writing and deep psychological payoff, this can come off more like a reference-stuffed souvenir than a necessary chapter. Still, there are flashes of atmosphere, strong period detail, and a few performances that hint at the richer film it wanted to be—just don’t go in expecting it to earn its own legacy.