Young Anthony Soprano is growing up in one of the most tumultuous eras in Newark, N.J., history, becoming a man just as rival gangsters start to rise up and challenge the all-powerful DiMeo crime family. Caught up in the changing times is the uncle he idolizes, Dickie Moltisanti, whose influence over his nephew will help shape the impressionable teenager into the all-powerful mob boss, Tony Soprano.
Alessandro Nivola
Dickie Moltisanti
Leslie Odom Jr.
Harold McBrayer
Michael Gandolfini
Teenage Tony Soprano
Ray Liotta
"Hollywood Dick" Moltisanti / Salvatore “Sally” Moltisanti
Michela De Rossi
Giuseppina Moltisanti
Vera Farmiga
Livia Soprano
Corey Stoll
Junior Soprano
Jon Bernthal
Johnny Soprano
Billy Magnussen
Paulie Walnuts
John Magaro
Silvio Dante
Talia Balsam
Mrs. Jarecki
Patina Miller
Queen Isola
Joey Diaz
Buddha
Germar Terrell Gardner
Cyril
Michael Imperioli
Christopher Moltisanti (voice)
Samson Moeakiola
Pussy Bonpensiero
Alexandra Intrator
Teenage Janice Soprano
Gabriella Piazza
Joanne Moltisanti
Mason Bleu
Leon Overall
Aaron Joshua
Jaleel
Lesli Margherita
Iris Balducci
Kathryn Kates
Angie DeCarlo
Nick Vallelonga
Carmine Cotuso
Ed Marinaro
Jilly Ruffalo
William Ludwig
Young Tony Soprano
Mattea Conforti
Young Janice Soprano
Matteo Russo
Young Artie Bucco
Robert Vincent Montano
Teenage Artie Bucco
Chase Vacnin
Teenage Jackie Aprile
Rob Colletti
Julie DeRogatis
De'Jon Watts
Landers
Nick DeMatteo
Guitarist
Matt Grossman
Drummer
Chris LaPanta
Army Recruiter
Patricia Squire
Old Auntie
Amelia Fowler
Candy Store Nurse
Prema Cruz
Wynetta
Maliq Johnson
Kevin
Sam Labovitz
Bruno
Daryl Edwards
Julius
Matthew Elam
Ray Ray
Angelo Anthony Pizza
Catholic School Boy
Audrey Bennett
Catholic School Girl
Nicola Gabriele
Club Waiter
Spenser Granese
Man in the Cowboy Hat
Michael Zegarski
Funeral Director
Michael Kaves
Funeral Wiseguy #1
Vinnie Costanza
Teenage Boy
Ian Unterman
Softball Parent #1
Lizzy Plimpton
Softball Parent #2
Erik Weiner
Teacher
Alex Morf
Police HQ Copper
Bryce Burke
Ice Cream Truck Driver
Joel Boyd
Activist On Stage
William Youmans
Judge Lambert
Andrew Polk
Taxi Passenger
Ohene Cornelius
Taxi Driver
Craig Geraghty
Soprano Kids Copper
Nygel Bush
Fallen Son
Carrie Compere
Crying Mother
Oberon K.A. Adjepong
Frank Lucas
Lexie Foley
Barbara Soprano
Phyllis Pastore
Aunt Concetta
Tatienne Hendricks-Tellefsen
Paulie’s Goomar
Ayodele Olatunji
Tabernacle Band #1
CJ Fly
Tabernacle Band #2
Dessy Hinds
Tabernacle Band #3
Laurie Sheppard
Building Manager
Marianne Ferrari
Female Neighbor
Julian Lerner
Rico (Tony’s Friend)
Stella Chivee
Frank Lucas’ Daughter
Louis Vanaria
Wise Guy
Latoya Edwards
Frank Lucas’ Girlfriend
John Borras
Bishop
Jodi Capeless
Aunt Gemma
Lauren DiMario
Teenage Carmela De Angelis
Danny Schoch
Chickie Sasso (uncredited)
Jesse Schratz
Italian Mob Kid (uncredited)
David Chase
Ercole DiMeo (uncredited)
Luca De Massis
Italian Club Member (uncredited)
Director
Alan Taylor
Characters, Writer
David Chase
Writer
Lawrence Konner
September 10, 2022
1
The Many Saints of Newark is The Sopranos meets The Godfather Part II, and the result is so much less than the sum of its parts. Do we really need to know that Tony Soprano was once a chubby brat?
Moreover, do we really want to know that that chubby brat grew up to be Michael Gandolfini? Michael would certainly be a chip off the old block, if his father had been Oswald Cobblepot instead of Jim Gandolfini.
This is truly a case of the apple falling a million miles away from the tree, but then pretty much everyone here falls short of the original actors/characters (I was never really a fan of the TV show, and even I would rather watch that instead).
Livia, Junior, Janice, Paulie Walnuts, Silvio Dante, Big Pussy; Soprano diehards will recognize all of these and several other names , but not much else. The only connection to the HBO series is Michael Imperioli, and even then it's just his voice used as little more than en excuse for some lame retrospective dramatic irony.
When he sees Tony for the first time, baby Christopher starts crying his eyes out; someone takes the opportunity to randomly comment that “Some babies, when they come into the world, know all kinds of things from the other side”. So baby Chris could somehow sense that uncle Tony was going to eventually murder him in cold blood? And if so, a fat lot of good that prescience did him.
As for the audience, we (even casual viewers like myself) remember very well that Tony Soprano strangled Christopher Moltisanti (which means 'many saints', hence the title of the film), because it’s practically the first thing that Imperioli tells us in the opening narration (to paraphrase Borges, saying something too much is almost as bad as not saying it).
Writers David Chase and Lawrence Konner and director Alan Taylor even manage to ruin the only good thing about this piece of crap movie; i.e., the late, great Ray Liotta, who must have been paid very good money — and completely deserved it for appearing in this debacle — because the filmmakers kill off his character half an hour into the movie, just to introduce his identical twin (and I mean identical to a T; how many pairs of twins are still getting exactly the same haircuts in their late 60s?).
Someone at New Line must have thought that Liotta was overpaid and demanded that the actor pulled double duty; how else to explain this farcical turn of events?