...this film is one of those rarities, in which I'm astounded to say I was left so incredibly underwhelmed as against my initial expectations. I got into the Sopranos very late, but once i started watching it and it finally does hit the mark, I was left speechless at times. Incredibly, for a show that lasted for so many seasons, it managed to maintain high standards throughout and up to the end (albeit with some setbacks along the way). So that's why this film is a surprise disappointment to rank it as a mis-step.
As The Sopranos was very famous for its misdirections, the storyline carries on that tradition, with the main protagonist being the father of Christopher Montasanti (Dickie Montasanti). We follow his story until his untimely demise which was already known from the show. Johnny Soprano turns out to be a sideshow character which was quite a surprise for this story, whilst Tony Soprano turns out to be in his youth little different to Anthony Jr years later.
The storyline ebbs and flows with some dark turns, as we watch the moral livelihoods of the mostly unpleasant characters. However, we also see a surrogate father son relationship between our lead and the young Tony Soprano which adds some uncomfortable background to one of the main arcs in the TV series.
The acting is great, and you can't fault anyone. Vera Farmiga as Livia was frighteningly superb in a role that could easily have gone wrong, but I did feel sorry for Jon Bernthal who probably expected to be the centre of the story as Johnny Soparano, only to surprisingly find himself as a bit-part character!
However, I was just felt underwhelmed by the film. Too much was skated over and I feel maybe a film was too little for what was needed here but rather a series. If this was a 2 part TV show, maybe I'd have been more accepting of it. Also they already did the same actor playing twins in the original, and that quite kind of pushing it with Ray Liotta's character, albeit he still did brilliantly in his roles.
Maybe it's actually a lot better than what I have stated above, as it's going against a classic of the onscreen media. Yet I can't shake off this feeling this was a partially lost opportunity. I still enjoyed it but.... There's will always be a "but" with this film when speaking about it...
Sidenote: As The Sopranos at heart was always a paen to Goodfellas above any other movie, it will likely have been a huge personal achievement for David Chase (the creator of The Sopranos) to finally get Ray Liotta ("Henry Hill") into The Sopranos world. Reports claim he had previously failed to bring him in before. Sadly, following Ray Liotta's untimely death, we will not see his like again onscreen. RIP.
As The Sopranos was very famous for its misdirections, the storyline carries on that tradition, with the main protagonist being the father of Christopher Montasanti (Dickie Montasanti). We follow his story until his untimely demise which was already known from the show. Johnny Soprano turns out to be a sideshow character which was quite a surprise for this story, whilst Tony Soprano turns out to be in his youth little different to Anthony Jr years later.
The storyline ebbs and flows with some dark turns, as we watch the moral livelihoods of the mostly unpleasant characters. However, we also see a surrogate father son relationship between our lead and the young Tony Soprano which adds some uncomfortable background to one of the main arcs in the TV series.
The acting is great, and you can't fault anyone. Vera Farmiga as Livia was frighteningly superb in a role that could easily have gone wrong, but I did feel sorry for Jon Bernthal who probably expected to be the centre of the story as Johnny Soparano, only to surprisingly find himself as a bit-part character!
However, I was just felt underwhelmed by the film. Too much was skated over and I feel maybe a film was too little for what was needed here but rather a series. If this was a 2 part TV show, maybe I'd have been more accepting of it. Also they already did the same actor playing twins in the original, and that quite kind of pushing it with Ray Liotta's character, albeit he still did brilliantly in his roles.
Maybe it's actually a lot better than what I have stated above, as it's going against a classic of the onscreen media. Yet I can't shake off this feeling this was a partially lost opportunity. I still enjoyed it but.... There's will always be a "but" with this film when speaking about it...
Sidenote: As The Sopranos at heart was always a paen to Goodfellas above any other movie, it will likely have been a huge personal achievement for David Chase (the creator of The Sopranos) to finally get Ray Liotta ("Henry Hill") into The Sopranos world. Reports claim he had previously failed to bring him in before. Sadly, following Ray Liotta's untimely death, we will not see his like again onscreen. RIP.