The Many Saints of New Jersey: A One Way Trip to Hell! (HBO Max and Theaters)

My entire family loves "The Sopranos" HBO series.  It is arguably the greatest TV drama ever!  We were all "psyched-up" to see the prequel "The Many Saints of New Jersey" co-written by David Chase, the creator of the TV show.  Words can't convey how bummed out we were to see this travesty.  If the cyanide capsule had been handy, I would have swallowed it half-way through the film. I was hoping for a movie revealing how Tony became involved in organized crime and some further insight into his psychodynamic conflicts,  but the movie wasn't about Tony at all.  It was primarily about Tony's uncle, Dickie Moltisanti (Alessandro Nivola), Christopher Moltisanti's father.  My friend Ted informed me that "Moltisanti" means "many saints" in Italian.  Dickie, however, is as far away from sainthood as is humanly possible!  Dickie's a cold-blooded psychopath, without the warmth, humor, or the occasionally-visible humanity of Tony.  Dickie is not an interesting character, and his life story is a bore. To be fair, the film has some fine performances from Nivola, Michael Gandolfini (as teenage Tony), Vera Farmiga (as Livia, Tony's mother), Ray Liotta (as Dickie's father) and Corey Stoll ('Junior' Soprano, Tony's uncle), but these small parts are not nearly enough to salvage this mess.  The film also tries to highlight the racism of the time (late 60's to early 70's), but that aspect of the movie falls flat, too. In short, it's like watching a train wreck, but I suppose most fans of the TV show will still have to watch it.  If you've never seen the show, start watching it on HBO Max and you won't be disappointed.  I don't know what motivated David Chase to make this film, but I think he made a mistake that, unfortunately, tarnishes the "Sopranos" legacy.