The Many Saints of Newark (2021) on Netflix
In 1967 Newark, teenager Tony Soprano looks up to his uncle Dickie Moltisanti, a soldier in the DiMeo crime family. Riots and rival gangsters test the family's control of the city.
- Netflix3.4/5
- IMDb6.2/1069,628 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes72%
Trailer
Plot summary
Newark, New Jersey, in 1967 is a city split by racial tension, and the DiMeo crime family holds much of it. Teenager Tony Soprano grows up in its shadow and looks up to his uncle, the mob soldier Dickie Moltisanti. Dickie's father Aldo Moltisanti, called Hollywood Dick, arrives home with a new Italian bride, Giuseppina. Rival gangsters start pressing the family's hold on the city, and when police officers beat and rob a black cab driver, rioting erupts across Newark. From outside the Playland amusement park, Tony sees police arrest his father Johnny, a capo, and his uncle Junior during an illegal card game. Dickie's associate Harold McBrayer has plans of his own. Dickie's uncle Salvatore is serving life in prison for killing a made man.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The Many Saints of Newark (2021)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Michael Gandolfini, son of James Gandolfini, who played Tony Soprano in the series, was not immediately cast as the young Tony and had to audition; Taylor and Chase felt right about casting him when he thanked the crew for letting him "say hello and goodbye again" to his father.
- Edie Falco filmed scenes as Carmela Soprano that were meant to open the film, but they were cut; director Alan Taylor said there was confusion over how best to launch the movie and they tried a few different things.
- Planned reshoots on the film were halted when the COVID-19 pandemic began, and the production came back in September 2020 to shoot material that improved the film's story.
- Ray Liotta, who joined the film's cast in February 2019, had earlier been approached by David Chase to appear in the third or fourth seasons of The Sopranos, but the plan did not work out.
- Newark's Branford Place was dressed to look like the 1960s for the riot scenes, with detailed storefronts, the old Adams Theater marquee and the neon sign for Hobby's Delicatessen.
- To depict the 1967 Newark riots accurately, director Alan Taylor recreated some of the film's shots directly from archival photographs and footage of the actual event.
