I feel so bad for saying it, but Bill Hader's take on Sil in that SNL skit felt more natural than Magaro's.

All the pieces are there for a really strong miniseries but the worst thing the movie did was try to cram all of the subplots into a 2hr runtime..made for an entertaining but very messy prequel

This review has the makings of a varsity athlete.

The racial aspect in this film was absurd. To make that such a large aspect of the plot was unnecessary. And I’m a black guy lol

Another issues is this film doesn't sell 60s-70s feel, from clothes to acting, it always feels like modern day people dressed in a supposedly timey style.

The entire movie should have been focused on Dickie and Tony, and the tagline of 'Who Made Tony Soprano?' Should have been the actual theme of the movie. Cut out the unnecessary subplots, maybe keep him visiting his father or uncle in prison and none of that twin idiocy. Dickie should have been portrayed as a villain protagonist who was actually actively teaching Tony to be a young criminal and having him do work for him. Seeing and taking advantage of Tony's need for a father figure, and being charming and kind to him, a Ralph type, like what Ralph did with Jackie Jr (which could play into why he despises Ralph so much in the series, unconsciously recognizing the real Dickie in him, a two faced predator preying on a young man's need of guidance), while really not giving much of a shit about Tony, just using him for his own ends and business. Show him degenerate from the seemingly suave, charming, good looking guy and rising star he was in the 60's, taking on the New England Crew single handed, to a degenerate junkie in the 70's who gets himself killed by the family for becoming a liability. In keeping with all of Tony's role models actually being scumbags, once he takes off the rose colored lenses. Christopher flat out tells Tony as much about his father in the show, and he seems taken aback by it, because he's been deluding himself for years over the kind of man Dickie was. Tony realizing his father/mentor figures he looked up to were all bastards who doomed him to a life of crime and misery was part of why he went off the deep end in the last season. It was like the movie couldn't commit to making Dickie the awful person he almost certainly was meant to be in the show, had to try to make him sympathetic like Tony, and was too caught up in its political agenda and tried to do too much in such a short time that they missed the entire point. All the material for a good prequel was already there in the series for David Chase, anyone could have written it properly, and he lost focus and tripped over himself instead.

Young Sil was like a bad SNL impression of the character.

When "Saturday Night Live" arguably did a better job at looking into Tony Soprano's teenage years than the Canon prequel film did!

Should have been an 8 part mini series.

This might be nit-picky but as someone who lives in NJ, it kinda throws me off that the cars use the newer present day license plates. Jersey plates were white and blue pre- 1990's. You even see old people with them still sometimes.

I hated Chris's voice as a narrative device. As soon as I heard it, I knew that the movie was going to suck.

A bit off topic, but I thought it was really weird that Junior telling "all the girl-cousins" that Tony didn't have the makings of a varsity athlete weighed so heavy on him in the show, yet when it happens in the movie he doesn't even seem to notice it.

After I watched the move all I could think was "I thought David Chase was a good writer..." then I realized how incredibly different the skill sets are that are warranted for storytelling on TV vs storytelling in film. He just doesn't know how to write a movie I guess.

Micheal Gandolfini made it all worth it..to see him looking like a young version of his dad was worth the price of admission IMO

Havent heard a better explanation. Felt 100% the same but couldnt put it into words

I keep hearing "this should have been a miniseries", but I don't think this should have been at all - period. Writing was bad, acting was mostly bad, storyline was bad... They should have just left the series alone.

You could tell that the riots and race stuff was shoe-horned in to make it woke enough. The movie would have flowed better if that story line had been removed and more time spent with the actual families.

All I know is David Chase never had the makings of a varsity filmmaker.

Should’ve been a limited series instead of a movie.

This should have been a one off series rather than a film. And it should have been more focused; this was simply all over the place.

Movie should have been about young junior and how much of a mastermind he was, not a buffoon

You know what the Sopranos show needed but didn’t have? Slam poetry at a Black Panther meeting.

It needed more Harold and African music.

The part that bugs me the most is how great the title is… Many Saints = Moltisanti

I read that what David Chase wanted to make was a movie about the riots that took place in Newark. But the network or studio or whatever would only make a deal with him and give him financing if he made the project about the Sopranos. So he had to rework his original idea, which was where his real passion lay.

Wow you nailed exactly how I feel about it, much better than I could have. Great job.

Movie was "okay" - but it would have benefited more so as a one off series - they crammed about 6 hours worth of story into a 2 hour movie.

The first time I saw the trailer I actually thought it was a new miniseries. There were so many characters, multiple aged Tonys, my brain was just like "Yeah, you're not fitting that in a movie." What a completely disjointed affair. I actually couldn't believe it they wrapped up Harold's character in a credit scene. And spoiling Chris's death in the first 30 seconds of the movie just to get a little Imperioli narrating was a real shock.

1) HBO gets a beloved IP (Sopranos, Watchmen.) 2) They make the entire thing about race riots instead of the beloved IP. 3) ??? 4) Profit?

Chris' hat at 2:22 needs it's own IMDB page...

The most disappointing movie of the year for me.

it's an amazing point you make that Christopher's narration undermines the "cut to black" theme of the show. Really interesting point

We all over rated David Chase.

Love your vids!

I keep repeating it but I’m pretty sure I’m right. The Harold role was supposed to be tony and what transpired w him and dickie in his 20s. Then I bet a rewrite kept gandolfini in the film longer and added a diverse role……but made no sense

I’ve got a lot of complaints about this movie shared by the video. So I also want to call out how badly the trailers lied framing this as a Tony Sopranos origin movie ... when it clearly isn’t. I might have been okay with that if the movie we still got was good though

Offf madone. Great review. I do wonder if I wasnt a Sopranos fan if I would have flat out walked out of the cinema when Ray Liotta appeared again. I was genuinely happy when the first character he was playing got killed as I wouldn't need to see him in any more scenes.

I think there is gonna be a part two of this that has more to do with younger Tony and how he rises up with Dickie as his inner influence. But i get where you are coming from even if i don't entirely agree with it.

Wasn't awful. Wasn't amazing either. Just slightly below average. Had many good points. Defo needs to become a miniseries to flesh out the actors and themes

This "movie" was nothing but a meaningless fan service trip and a cuckold fetish for one of the writers. Dickie wasn't anything like he was supposed to be, all of the characters felt like they were just guys in costumes parodying Sopranos characters, there was no story at all and finally Dickie dies for an absolutely ridiculous "reason". What a disaster.

I'm not saying that this movie proves that David Chase is clueless at what he's doing but I always thought he gets too much credit for how good the show did in terms of Writing specially since I know a couple of the writers that show a lot of the episodes of the show and I'm 99% sure those writers are the reason why the show was so good this movies kinda proves that David Chase is not the main reason for the show's success, it's the writers.

It did feel a bit rushed, but it was clearly a misnomer to get you to think it's about Tony, when it's just giving imagery to stories told in the show. I wouldn't be surprised if they wrote it as a miniseries first, it felt like it should've been longer

Performances, style and tone were there. Its just suffering from being a movie and not a show.

I liked the movie, but also I’m a huge sopranos fan so really anything this far out is nice to see. Did it blow my mind? No. Will I rewatch it when I binge Sopranos? Maybe

i totally agree with the race riots. i feel like he had a message that he was trying to convey that clashed with already trying to tell multiple side stories at once. like damn your makin it political now too? i feel like it didnt even showcase how tony became evil / psychopathic. how is THAT the guy you went to hell for, hes just a kid! Yea just not well done at all. really enjoyed your video, i can tell you love the show bc that was the BEST analysis of the ending ive ever heard lol. feel the same way man.

Furio: "I ATTE THS MOVIE".

Damn I saw posters of this movie but I had no idea it came out

“The digital cable went out again “

1:01 Laura Linney and JB I have to acknowledge how cool to see them lol 😆 I appreciate this commentary about TMSON so far.

really thought it was gonna be a miniseries and I feel like it would have worked out a lot better

Out of all the scenes that displayed just how whittled down the crew had become, nothing brought that image home more than the last scene at Satriale’s, where Tony gives Paulie his last and final promotion from him. It’s just him and Paulie sitting there. From the scene coloring to it just being them two, and then just Paulie…. Everyone is either dead or gone. Compare that to the Columbus episode. So sad.

This is basically a movie about the NY riots .....that got morphed into a sopranos movie halfway thru

Why doesn't anyone talk about Paulie Walnuts's character?

Frankly, I'm depressed and ashamed

the best thing about the movie is how Dickie cuts himself off from Tony's life to make Tony's life better but his influence on him is already established and changes nothing and Tony's best friend is a guy who cut him off, that's some serious trauma for a kid.

The movie tries way too hard to reference the show. The characters force in their mannerisms like Junior repeatedly saying "Your sisters c**t" and Paulie playing with the wings in his hair. It's trying to point out who these characters are and we wouldn't be able to work it out ourselves.

I hate that they used "grey" and "yellow" filters for the mood.

Yeah, terrible prequel. Very disappointing. Whatever magic the show had, this didn't have it. It's the Sopranos' Godfather 3. And what was up with how dark and gloomy it looked? Even the daylight scenes felt like they were lit with fluorescent bulbs. It's interesting to me that the creators of Deadwood, another HBO show with lots of nuance, expansive subplots, and memorable minor characters, managed to pull off a really good movie that was almost universally well received by critics and fans.

I knew something was wrong when the marketing leaned heavy on Sapranos nostalgia. It felt very Hollywood. Strange for David Chase

The reason why this movie fails: David Chase wasn't fully in control of it due to real life things which took him out of the project right when he was about to be taking the bull by the horns

Having Gandolfini's son play the young Tony Soprano was a total disaster. Likewise that ridiculous Silvio caricature. What a sh*tshow.

This film did not follow the timeline. Tony Soprano was born in 1959. The film took place between 1967 and 1971. Tony would have been between the ages of 8 and 12. He was portrayed as a high school student in the movie. Also, Silvio was supposed to be a couple of years older than Tony, yet he was portrayed as being the same age as Paulie.

The only thing they added from sopranos, was the gunshot to livias hair that is told in season 6. Dickies drug problem is touched (such as heroin). I dunno.. it was made by someone who has only ever watched sopranos, once..

Thinking about it more, it should of been a mini-series.

You sound a bit like the radio host on reservoir dogs - super sounds of the seventies or something. Anyway, even though I haven't seen the film, this was an interesting review, if that makes any sense!

This movie was really disappointing

The many spades of newark

They billed this as The Making Of Tony Soprano but we barely see Tony. Why wasn't there a solid, linear B plot with him getting into trouble? They had every opportunity to do something similar to the AJ B plots, or to even call back to one, but outside of him gambling on the morning announcements... We don't get much. I'm okay with this being about Dickie, truly, and I thought he was a good character... But a lot of what he was bringing to the table was just rehashings of Tony in ways that don't show clear influence (the mommy issues, for example). I also think you're completely right... Most characters felt like impressions in ways that seemed to not take the show itself, or the mafia genre, seriously. Which isn't a topic I'm not going to jump into via a youtube comment but, the source material knew exactly how and when to reguard the topics and people it portrays. Many Saints did not. You can't address racism and police brutality in one scene, and then have the absolute worst silvio impression in the next.

whaddya hear whaddya say?? you never disappoint with these vids dude!

11:44 = They also retconned Silvio's age.

He wasn’t wacked. Noah punched his lights out!

exactly, the movie felt like it has no message and that it's not really about anything but not in a good way, just in a meaningless way. the best thing about it was Tony's and Dickie's friendship

They should have had Tony missing that fly ball against mountains lakes

Giueseppina is Christopher’s biological mother, which is why there’s such a heavy emphasis on her. Joanne couldn’t have a child so Giueseppina would have gotten pregnant with Dickie’s child but they would have said it was Hollywood Dick’s due to the fact that happens around the same time he dies. And on top of that, she probably wouldn’t want to keep the child since she’s Dickie’s gomare & her official story would have been she’s gone back to Italy. Her story makes sense. The stuff with Harold didn’t feel resolved but it would make for a good miniseries, not to mention we get to see what happens to Tony after the fall of Dickie.

In the many saints of newark that kid that tony fought, was that jacky April????

He didnt die, dont get me started

This film faded to black 2 mins in......After I turned off the TV

I don't think it's at all clear that Tony gets popped. A principal theme of the last part of the show was about how life goes on. You yourself said it: "The finale's just another day in the life." Tony looks up and sees Meadow coming in, they all sit down and have dinner. And on and on it goes...

Biggest let down... David chase clearly didn't put his skills into making this sad ass sequel

David Chase is in talks with HBO about developing another series set in the Sopranos "universe".

If this was planned to be the only movie is a bad, really bad mistake and wasted opportunity. But if is just a pilot for a new series or trilogy of movies this is hella promising

If there's another with Tony in his 20s, it has to be played by domenick lombardozzi. Be absurd even if its his real life son, domenick is literally the opitamy of what Tony would be like in his late 20s/30s

This was mentioned previously: Dickie character should have been as Ralfie, a charismatic asshole manipulating Tony. Instead they try that half assed redemption with the pills

“Comare” is more like the feminine sponsor, i.e., co-parent of a child you baptize. By extension, it means trusted female friend, not “Godmother.” Similar to Spanish “comadre.”

I haven't seen the film but i wouldn't mind much if it was thin on plot points and flow for the reward of just seeing the character's in their earlier lives.

I think the Sopranos made David Chase an offer he couldn't refuse.

There is big brain work going on… just like entire final episode of Sopranos, MSON is another of Tony’s dreams. MSON is also an homage to the dreamy Mulholland Drive and it contains elements of meta cinema. Just like Made in America, MSON offers a peak inside Tony’s head… MIA deals with Tony’s final dream as he dies from stress induced heart attack… trust me, that’s correct. MSON is a glimpse inside Tony’s head most likely when under influence of peyote shortly after killing Christopher (Many Saints) Moltisanti. Tony’s MSON dream is based on his (often faulty) childhood and teenage memories… all of Tony’s preoccupations are dealt with. It ends with his realisation that just as Dicky allowed himself to be sucked into the horrors of mob life leading eventually to a bullet in the head, so Tony must accept the same fate as he also has chosen a life of crime… he may not have had the makings of a varsity athlete, but Tony could have gotten out of the mob life at a young age, but instead embraced it and was forced to live with the bloody consequences and the emptiness, loss and lack of joy that are inevitable when evil is deliberately chosen.

Jesus, Chrissy. I never 'manuged' to get that many mistakes into one written sentence.

I will say, The Sopranos, while grounded and having more “magical realism” or contradictory explanations/“outs” for its ambiguous views as you say, did have some supernatural elements for sure. Pauline and the psychic? There’s literally never an explanation the show provides and it’s very creepy. Not to mention if you take Tony’s coma dream as more literal than dream. But I agree, the narration by Christopher takes away something. Like… the literal Hell exists in this universe? I preferred the more ambiguous and unclear supernatural elements of the show. I did think the Liotta character fit that mold well. Not only was he actually pretty hilarious, but he has that moment where he kinda disappears randomly and you wonder if any of those scenes were real or not.

They tried to recreate ‘a bronx story’, but failed drastically

every -and I mean literally EVERY- piece of advertising for this film focused 110% on a young tony soprano. We got like maybe 40 minutes of tony soprano. Such disingenuous advertising.

Honestly would have just preferred a Johnny and Junior Soprano film with some Dicky Moltesanti on the side. Seeing the flashbacks of Johnny in the Sopranos was always fun.

am i still from jersey even tho i've nvr watched the sopranos

How could they get this wrong? All they had to do was follow the same formula as any of the 86 episodes (each one was more or less a movie). To use the excuse there was no James Gandolfini etc is rubbish. The casting in the Sopranos series was to simply use actors from a succusful mafia film. The story or plot was the worse. No need for shootouts or expensive explosions.Just make it like a Sopranos episode and your halfway there. Its like years of tradition and you then have this pigmy thing. No one even got their finger pricked!

I didn't hate the movie but I HATED the ending. It didn't make any sense at all. Junior taking Dickie out just because he laughed at him was petty even for Juniors standards. If Junior was setting Harold up for it why did he get to go off and live happily ever after in the burbs?

Ohhh,… Poor Youuuu!

Also why was Lesley odem juniors character a “non character”?! - his character was a huge deal! And I also thought it was suuuper refreshing to see the sopranos deal with the black American experience in a larger way. I was expecting to watch this and find things I missed which I would then agree with but you need to elaborate more bro

The scene where Junior falls on his back is directed in such a weird way...so dumb and pointless lol

Thanks for this review. I've heard very little about this movie.

I still couldn't tell you wtf this movie was about