The Many Saints of Newark (2021) (1 Viewer)

[Josh Steinberg]

Will the movie work for me as an independent entity or is it just targeting fans of the series who want a prequel story?

You will be able to follow the story but will most likely find it to be a generic mob movie. The film’s greatest pleasures come from the little details that add color to characters and histories we know from the show.

The film’s greatest strength and biggest weakness is that it reminds the viewer of watching The Sopranos.

I don’t think it functions as well as a standalone work as the filmmakers might have intended. It reminded me a bit of El Camino, the Breaking Bad sequel movie. You could watch that without being a Breaking Bad viewer and be able to follow the plot but the emotional weight of the story would be lost on the viewer, making it seem perhaps emptier than it is.

 

[Jake Lipson]

The film’s greatest strength and biggest weakness is that it reminds the viewer of watching The Sopranos.

I don’t think it functions as well as a standalone work as the filmmakers might have intended.

Thanks. In that case, it feels like I can safely pass on watching this one.

 

[Lord Dalek]

Which raises a question from the series

Spoiler

was that old cop that Christopher killed in S4(?) actually the shooter we see in the movie or was Tony using Christopher to kill the guy and bring them closer? Personally, I think as far Tony knows that was the guy who killed Dickie and it's messed up enough that Tony held on to that info until he needed it to manipulate Christopher.

Spoiler

The implication is (via the after-credits scene) that Harold McBrayer whacked Dickie at the behest of Uncle June. So either Tony doesn't know who really did it or straight up lied to Chris.

 

[Sam Favate]

I thought it was pretty good. The performances were terrific (and the imitations dead-on) but the narrative could have used some work. That said, I did really like the depiction of the Newark riots and it’s inclusion in the story. It makes sense that those events would influence these characters.

I hope we see more films in the “Sopranos Story” series.

 

[TravisR]

Spoiler

The implication is (via the after-credits scene) that Harold McBrayer whacked Dickie at the behest of Uncle June. So either Tony doesn't know who really did it or straight up lied to Chris.

Spoiler

I get that Junior went through Harold but the actual shooter you see in the scene looked like a white guy to me. Neither Junior or Harold would want any apparent link to the murder of a mobster so my take is that Harold used the cop from the series as his hitman.

In the end, it's designed to be ambiguous and whatever the viewer wants to think and I doubt David Chase is interested in giving a definitive answer to the question.

 

[Sam Favate]

It seems there could very well be more Sopranos.

David Chase Strikes Five-Year First-Look TV & Film Deal With WarnerMedia

Fresh from the release of The Many Saints of Newark, The Sopranos prequel feature, David Chase has signed a five-year, first-look deal with WarnerMedia. The deal covers film and TV and will see Chase develop content for HBO, HBO Max and Warner Bros. Pictures Group. It comes as the movie, which...

deadline.com

 

[TravisR]

It seems there could very well be more Sopranos.

David Chase Strikes Five-Year First-Look TV & Film Deal With WarnerMedia

Fresh from the release of The Many Saints of Newark, The Sopranos prequel feature, David Chase has signed a five-year, first-look deal with WarnerMedia. The deal covers film and TV and will see Chase develop content for HBO, HBO Max and Warner Bros. Pictures Group. It comes as the movie, which...

deadline.com

It's still probably too expensive but I hope they let him do that earliest days of Hollywood mini-series he was writing a few years ago. And they ought to put Not Fade Away on HBO Max and just act like it's a new movie. Maybe then it'd get the audience it deserved.

 

[TonyD]

I don’t think it matter who actually pulled the trigger.
We didn’t see a face and couldn’t see any indication of who it was.
Could have been anyone, might have been a young guy earning his first kill.

All that matters is we know who set it up.

 

[Sam Favate]

It sure sounds like more Chase/Sopranos stuff is coming. Maybe Chase can leverage this into getting that Hollywood mini made (it sounds terrific); he had said the problem was money.

Interesting that A) HBO is "thrilled" with how Many Saints performed, and B) that the new project being discussed is a series, not a movie - suggesting HBO listened to the criticism of Many Saints.

‘The Sopranos’: WarnerMedia In Talks With David Chase About HBO Max Prequel Series

David Chase has talked up the possibility of returning to The Sopranos universe with a sequel to The Many Saints of Newark. The creator of the hit James Gandolfini-fronted mob drama suggested, in an interview with Deadline, that it could be another feature film with Chase and Terence Winter...

deadline.com

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

I have to agree w/ a couple others that this was a letdown that fell rather flat and just didn't need to be made (as is anyway).

It wasn't terrible or anything like that... but still just rather forgettable nonetheless. And it clearly wasn't (quite) targeted at those not already familiar w/ the series, and yet, it felt too little for those who are...

Besides what's already been said, feels like there should've been (a good deal) more of Tony's mother, if this was meant to show us how Tony became Tony. In this, she was nowhere near what she was by the start of the original series, which should've been a very big part of any origin story for Tony.

To me, it just felt very half-hearted in what it was trying to be and where it was really trying to go... Maybe it would've fit better as an episode or two in (or its various elements sprinkled throughout) a prequel series that spans a couple seasons or more, but as is, it feels aimless and is rather wanting...

_Man_

 

[Tino]

Finally finished watching it. In short I thought it was a disappointment mess. And I’m a huuuge Sopranos fan. Too bad.

 

[Bryan^H]

Finally finished watching it. In short I thought it was a disappointment mess. And I’m a huuuge Sopranos fan. Too bad.

I had my issues with it, but I think it was OK. A second viewing lowered my initial opinion quite a bit.

 

[TravisR]

I liked it but if the bar for the movie is set to the best of The Sopranos episodes, I don't think that many movies could match one of the best shows ever made. I sure hope that Chase will make another movie using these actors because there's plenty of great stuff that he could do with them and the characters.

 

[Bryan^H]

I liked it but if the bar for the movie is set to the best of The Sopranos episodes, I don't think that many movies could match one of the best shows ever made. I sure hope that Chase will make another movie using these actors because there's plenty of great stuff that he could do with them and the characters.

Just seemed more suited for a streaming show one season minimum IMO.

 

[TravisR]

Just seemed more suited for a streaming show one season minimum IMO.

While I'd have happily watched Chase come back and do a series, all the overlong and self-indulgent run times of seemingly every movie and TV show made today, I've really come to appreciate someone that can do brevity.

 

[benbess]

‘Sopranos’ Creator David Chase Finally Reveals What Happened to Tony (Exclusive)​

‘Awards Chatter’ Podcast: ‘Sopranos’ Creator David Chase Finally Reveals What Happened to Tony (Exclusive)

Chase opens up about what inspired that series and its new prequel, how his feelings about film versus TV have evolved over the years and, in a major disclosure, what really happened to Tony Soprano at the end of the series finale.

www.hollywoodreporter.com

Spoiler

They wanted to know that Tony was killed. They wanted to see him go face-down in linguini, you know? And I just thought, “God, you watched this guy for seven years and I know he’s a criminal. But don’t tell me you don’t love him in some way, don’t tell me you’re not on his side in some way. And now you want to see him killed? You want justice done? You’re a criminal after watching this shit for seven years.” That bothered me, yeah.

The quote in spoilers gets at one of the reasons I'm not that keen on mob movies and tv shows, because even this creator seems to believe he was making a sympathetic character out these kind of criminal monsters that exist in real life.

The Godfather movies were meant by Francis Ford Coppola to be a critique of the mafia, but some have wondered if in fact those Oscar-winning movies sometimes acted almost like a form of recruitment.

Anyway, I sometimes watch mob movies anyway (although I skipped this one), but I sometimes feel uneasy about it.

Apologies for putting this somewhat random thought here, but it's something I've been wondering about once in a while literally since the mid-1970s, when I was just a kid and the first Godfather movies were earning such big box office and acclaim.

 

[TravisR]

‘Sopranos’ Creator David Chase Finally Reveals What Happened to Tony (Exclusive)​

‘Awards Chatter’ Podcast: ‘Sopranos’ Creator David Chase Finally Reveals What Happened to Tony (Exclusive)

Chase opens up about what inspired that series and its new prequel, how his feelings about film versus TV have evolved over the years and, in a major disclosure, what really happened to Tony Soprano at the end of the series finale.

www.hollywoodreporter.com

Spoiler

They wanted to know that Tony was killed. They wanted to see him go face-down in linguini, you know? And I just thought, “God, you watched this guy for seven years and I know he’s a criminal. But don’t tell me you don’t love him in some way, don’t tell me you’re not on his side in some way. And now you want to see him killed? You want justice done? You’re a criminal after watching this shit for seven years.” That bothered me, yeah.

The quote in spoilers gets at one of the reasons I'm not that keen on mob movies and tv shows, because even this creator seems to believe he was making a sympathetic character out these kind of criminal monsters that exist in real life.

Chase isn't saying that Tony was sympathetic. He's pointing out that there's a segment of the audience that liked or rooted for Tony for years who also wanted a pat ending where Tony was dead so they could assuage their "guilt" over having rooted for a bad person.

Also, it's worth noting that Tony wasn't presented in a black and white way. He was a terrible person but even the worst person isn't all bad. He did have some redeeming qualities like he loved his kids and you can have some sympathy for him having seen the massively damaging effect that his parents had on him. None of that negates him being a killer and a horrible individual but it keeps him from being a black-hat bad guy.

 

[Mikael Soderholm]

I hate it when autocorrect puts ducking worms in my month!

You know the saying; the inventor of autocorrect has died, may he restaurant in piece. His funfair will be next monkey.