The Sopranos Goes Phantom Menace on Us
We asked our film critic — who has somehow never seen The Sopranos — to watch HBO’s new prequel film The Many Saints of Newark to see if it could work on its own merits.
Alessandro Nivola portrays Tony Soprano’s uncle, Dickie Moltisanti, in The Many Saints of Newark. (Warner Bros.)
I have to assume that The Sopranos is fifty times better than its prequel The Many Saints of Newark, currently playing in theaters and on HBO Max, because everyone loves the series, and the film is as boring as hell.
I must confess I’m one of the handful of Americans who’ve never watched The Sopranos — I don’t know why. Reliable sources all over the map tell me it’s great. I swear I even offered to recuse myself from reviewing this film on the grounds of my Sopranos ignorance! Because, hey, maybe this film is riveting if you loved the series? In the same way, apparently, that Star Wars prequels and sequels and spin-offs are riveting, because, as a fan once told me on behalf of his fellow Star Wars fans, “We’d go cheer for Obi-Wan Kenobi Mows His Lawn”?
Maybe this film is Tony Soprano Mows His Lawn?
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