You had to know that there would eventually be a prequel to the excellent HBO series, The Sopranos. I mean, everyone wants more of a good thing, no? Learn more about Tony Soprano and some of the other unforgettable characters from the series.
Instead of sticking to the series format this time out the Sopranos story is told via the format of a feature-length film. It sets out to give us a window into how young Tony became the man we knew him to be. The intelligent man, who grew to lead men. A leader of a powerful crime family in Newark.
Like the series, the focal point of the film is the personalities and their stories. But unlike the series, there is precious little mafia stuff to speak of. That decision leaves a rather large hole in the centre of things. Always feels like there is something missing. You have gangsters without any real enemies. Secondary characters which time is spent upon that don’t really bring anything to the story. One strange decision is piled upon another here without any real payoff or sense of satisfaction in the end. Too bad as the opportunity was a ripe one.
During the riots in Newark there was a teenage boy named Tony Soprano (played by Michael Gandolfini), who was growing up within the bosom of his very “active” Italian American family. The city is in the midst of much upheaval in the form of crime family battles and racial tension.
In regards to the city’s crime world, traditionally the powerful DiMeo family was at the top of the food chain. While the race riots were going on challenges against the hold of the DiMeo family surfaced.
Tony’s parents, Livia (played by Vera Farmiga) and Johnny (played by Bernthal), are not sure what to do with their sensitive son. At this time young Tony is enamoured with his uncle Dickie Moltisanti (played by Alessandro Nivola). A man he looks up to. A man he wants to become like. Dickie, a member of the DiMeo crime family, has his hands full trying to keep his personal and work lives separate and under control. He is a man who always wants more…of everything.
Besides the aforementioned actors/actresses, the cast is rounded out by the likes of Corey Stoll, Leslie Odom Jr., Ray Liotta, Michael Imperioli, and Billy Magnussen.
Special Features:
-Digital Copy
-Deleted Scenes
-The Making of Newark
-Sopranos Family Honor
