The Alto Knights: Low-Key N.Y. Mafia Movie

I am a big fan of Robert De Niro, and I consider him to be one of the finest actors of his generation.  This movie's screenwriter, Nicholas Pileggi (who also wrote "Goodfellas" & "Casino"), based it on a true story.  In this film, De Niro plays a familiar role as a mafia gangster, but with a twist: he plays two gangsters from the same crime family (the Luciano Crime Family).  I think the movie would have worked better with two different actors, but it was interesting watching how De Niro creates two different characters through his acting prowess. Frank Costello (De Niro) is the low-key boss of the Luciano crime family in N.Y.C.  He pulls the strings and has bought off many of the cops and politicians in Tammany Hall.  He stays out the the papers and out of trouble.  Frank has been happily married to Bobbie (Debra Messing) for over 30 years.  He's a great guy who much prefers negotiations over violence.  During his childhood and adolescence, Frank was close friends with Vito Genovese (also played by De Niro).  In 1937, Vito was the boss of the Luciano family, but he needed to flee the country to avoid a murder charge.  He left his trusted and closest friend, Frank, to run the business until his return.  Due to WWII, Vito didn't return until 1945.  By then, much had changed.  The business was being run well by Frank, and everyone was happy.  Heads of the other families also liked and respected Frank and there were no gang wars.  Vito married Anna (Katherine Narducci) after his return to N.Y., and both wives have substantial roles.  Nobody wanted Vito to become the Luciano family boss again. Vito, however, thought he deserved to run the show again, since Frank was only the interim boss.  Vito soon starts making power moves.  Frank meets with him numerous times to try to get Vito to be patient and let a resolution that's fair to everyone work its way out, but Vito is having none of it!  Frank is calm, rational, warm, fair, and has integrity, while Vito is the opposite.  Vito is narcissistic, a psychopath, impulsive, and paranoid.  Vito projects his desire to take what he wants and screw everyone over and imagines that others, primarily Frank, are doing this to him.  Due to Vito's personality problems, Vito considers Frank to be his arch enemy who needs to be eliminated.  Frank is aware of this and wishes it were otherwise, and he does his best to try to neutralize Vito in the hope of eventually working something out.  De Niro plays Frank the way I have described Frank above.  Vito is portrayed as stiff, distant, anxious, and has more aggressive body language and voice. I enjoyed the film, but it was occasionally a bit flat.  It's a good rental and better than most streaming-original films.  It's definitely worth watching if you are a De Niro fan, and, on the whole, a pretty good movie.