There's a certain quality to the Sopranos TV show. Most shows have a purposeful feel to them. A character wants something and needs something else, and we spend the episode watching them pursue it, while the overall plot for the season marches on. Sopranos feels more often like a window into the lives of the characters. Yes they often have needs and wants, but so often it feels like we're simply getting a seat to view their lives. They discuss their lives with a familiarity we lack. Both their language and often, the context.
The Many Saints of Newark follows that tradition. I'm not sure if any of the characters have a specific need or want, nor is there necessarily an antagonist to stop them. And yes, Tony Soprano's past gets featured here, but not his rise to crime, maybe simply his first considerations of it. Primarily we watch Christopher Moltisanti's father, Dicky Moltisanti. Dicky makes some moves, has a few altercations with a rival gang, acquires a goomad, debates his life, and is an example for young Anthony Soprano.
But plot-wise, that's about all there is. There's still arguably the Sopranos-like commentary on the people behind the mob, the nature of violence and humanity, but it doesn't quite feel like a self-sustained movie anyone could go see. By the time I got to the end I was still wondering, "what are we doing here?"
The Many Saints of Newark follows that tradition. I'm not sure if any of the characters have a specific need or want, nor is there necessarily an antagonist to stop them. And yes, Tony Soprano's past gets featured here, but not his rise to crime, maybe simply his first considerations of it. Primarily we watch Christopher Moltisanti's father, Dicky Moltisanti. Dicky makes some moves, has a few altercations with a rival gang, acquires a goomad, debates his life, and is an example for young Anthony Soprano.
But plot-wise, that's about all there is. There's still arguably the Sopranos-like commentary on the people behind the mob, the nature of violence and humanity, but it doesn't quite feel like a self-sustained movie anyone could go see. By the time I got to the end I was still wondering, "what are we doing here?"
