Intellectual Property. IP. That loaded term means a lot of things when it’s attached to a story. Movie producers see those dollar signs increase if good IP is involved. But that means higher expectations. And a ravenous fan base ultra protective of the material. That additional stress raises the stakes for the story creators (directors/writers/actors/etc), who can make a career or careen it off course depending on this one film. The Many Saints of Newark lives on both sides of the IP debate, succeeding more than failing, but misstepping along the way.
The Tony Soprano (in a nice touch, played by the late James Gandolfini’s son, Michael) origin story starts in Newark in the 1960s. That period of time in the blue collar city was fraught with tension. Tony grows up admiring his uncle Dickie Moltisanti (Alessandro Nivola), who’s at the center of a power struggle in Newark. Dickie’s father Hollywood Dick (Ray Liotta), Johnny Soprano (Tony’s dad, played by Jon Bernthal), and Johnny’s brother Junior (Corey Stoll) enforce for the DiMeo crime family. But when an unarmed black cab driver gets murdered by the police, low level African American DiMeo employee Harold McBrayer (Leslie Odom Jr.) starts to see a bigger place for himself in a power role as he riots in the streets. In addition, the Moltisani clan has all sorts of issues when Hollywood Dick brings home a very young Italian wife, Giuseppina (Michela De Rossi), causing envy among the Italian men and Italian wives, including Tony’s mom Livia (Vera Farmiga).
The Newark race riots of 1967 aren’t exactly at the top of big studio filmmaking productions. But that trusty Sopranos IP makes that story a pivotal moment in the history of the Soprano franchise. The Many Saints shows how these riots came to be, and how they symbolize different things to the people in involved. Dickie uses it to cover up some of his worst sins as an enforcer. The Italians in general see it as something appalling and a sign of decline in their city. But then there’s Harold McBrayer, who sees the light in the form of a building on fire. As such, Leslie Odom Jr.’s Harold gets a starring role here, and maybe the most interesting one in the movie, as a man who comes to realize how times are changing, and he can make the future happen for himself.
So where’s Tony throughout all of this? And here lies one of the problems of IP: satiating the fans. There’s a reason Tony Soprano isn’t mentioned in the title: this is a movie about Newark New Jersey first and foremost. As a result, Tony is a side character in his own movie, witnessing from the sidelines while uncle Dickie takes center stage to all the drama, which is bound to piss off Soprano junkies. But I’m also frustrated too: because we have to work in Tony, Paulie Walnuts, mom Livia, uncle Junior, and the gang. David Chase stitches 2 stories together: the Tony Soprano origin story with the main story about life in Newark in the late 60s early 70s. In a 2 hour movie format? The riots and such might be more cinematic, but the storytelling mightily suffers, resulting in a lot of antiquated mafia cliches (really sucks to be an Italian woman, doesn’t it?) on the Newark side of things, and some basic character beats (did you know Tony is smart and a leader? We hear it 2,378 times I think) for the TV characters everyone loves. The overqualified cast helps make The Many Saints of Newark work, but it feels like Chase missed his chance to go back an make like a 10 episode miniseries out of this material so we can spend time with these already interesting characters.
Or maybe we’ll get a sequel about Tony Soprano rising through the mafia ranks? As a return to the Soprano world, David Chase hopefully just used The Many Saints of Newark to get the cobwebs off of his antiquated storytelling, getting that 70s style American drama out of his system. Now we can get to the good stuff, and actually be creeped out at how similar Michael Gandolfini looks like his dad James. Rest in Peace Big Guy.