Overall comments:
The movie was rather like the Downton Abbey movie: it tried to do too much in the time available. This could have been deliberate so that people will pay to watch it again, because it is hard to catch everything, now that we fans have pored over the television series at length. I would like to see it again, but don’t want to pay another $13 next time!
The story was compelling, but not as humorous as the longer timeframe of the TV series allowed. I was the only one laughing out loud at a few of the wisecracks, like what they said to explain to the priest about Pussy’s name when they introduced him— “It’s not what you’re thinkin’!” Like that’s what the priest was thinking! Also, Livia telling the school counselor to make the conference about Anthony’s misbehavior quick because “I’m parked at a hydrant.”
The sound quality was difficult — the background noise and music were louder than the dialogue, so it was hard to catch some of the critical moments between characters. Other patrons leaving the theater said the same. One of my friends has mulitiple auxiliary speakers on his TV, and he can adjust for that. Can’t say if the movie was at fault, or the theater.
Earlier comments on this thread wondered about the music, and I did give it a thumbs up for selections from the correct timeframe; but overall I have hoped for more, given the abundance of Italian-American pop groups of the era, like Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, Dion and the Belmonts, Frankie Avalon, etc. They may have been in the background, but I didn’t catch them. The soul music of the era was also very upbeat and a few early Motown hits would have been welcome. Tthe mood of the picture could have been lifted with some upbeat tunes, or a little clip of Dick Clark on the TV, to contrast between the hopefulness of the 50s & early 60s reflected by the music, against the darkness of the life of crime and the ethnic and racial tensions permeating the characters’ worldviews.
Vera Farmiga was outstanding, as were most of the rest of the main players.
“..thumbs up for selections from the correct timeframe..
Robert Di Nero usually had good period piece RnB, Doo Wop in his flicks. Mean Streets, Raging Bull and especially Bronx Tale have exactly the music of it’s time. I know cause I was there during that time period. IMO
Agree about the music. It was okay, but it could have been better. Personally, I like Van Morrison’s Astral Weeks but (1) It wasn’t a hit in its time; and (2) Do I think there’s any chance in hell that it was a cult favorite among Jersey mobsters? No.
I was a big fan of the TV show, but this movie was just okay. As you say, it tried to do too much. The acting was good, especially Nivola, Liotta, young Gandolfini, the Italian actress playing Dickie’s stepmother/mistress. But they were working on a rather ho-bum storyline that never really enthralled me. Also, the portrayals of Silvio and Junior seemed to drift into parody of the TV characters.