The Many Saints of Newark / YMMV

Broken Base: Some fans were outraged that Dickie's death all along was just Junior getting revenge on Dickie for disrespecting him and laughing at him, while others point out that Junior's insecurity over his reputation and respect got the best of him many times in the original series.
Confirmation Bias: A lot of the criticisms of the film (especially those popularized by Michael Francese, a former mobster) involve its apparent demonization of the Italian Mafia and (according to Francese) Italian Americans in general. Anyone who has actually watched the entire series knows this was the whole point of the show. All of the flaws with the Mafia (racism, domestic abuse, and sociopathy) present in the film were in the series as well. Francese himself has admitted that he has only watched a few episodes^note, so this may have been lost on him.
Critical Dissonance: Professional reviews gave the movie mixed-to-positive reception, but opinions from general audiences and fans were much more negative. On Rotten Tomatoes, the critical consensus score is 71%, while the audience score is 59%, on Metacritic, the critical score is 60 versus the audience score of 49, and it only had a C+ grade from CinemaScore.
Crosses the Line Twice: Dickie ends up accidentally killing his abusive father by repeatedly smashing his face into a car steering wheel. Dickie viciously beating his own dad into a bloody, lifeless pulp? Genuinely awful and horrifying to watch. The car horn loudly honking every time his face impacts the wheel? Fucking hilarious.
Dancing Bear: Though most overwhelmingly agreed that Michael Gandolfini did a fantastic job, the mere idea of him evoking his late father's character was what drew many fans in.
Fanon Discontinuity: Most fans of the television show don't discuss this movie, due to it widely being seen as inferior and adding very little of substance to the show, making it easy to ignore.
Fan-Preferred Cut Content: Fans have preferred that a number of deleted scenes should have been restored to improve the character-building, such as Dickie's brief tussle with Tony during an argument they had.
Franchise Original Sin: John Magaro got a lot of flak for doing a poor impersonation of Silvio Dante. In fact, Silvio is just as much of a caricature in the original series as he is here, and Steven Van Zandt has always been a contentious casting choice because of his lack of a previous acting career. The difference however is that Silvio in the movie doesn't have enough screentime for Magaro to properly bring out the character's depths.
Funny Moments: After Johnny's welcome-home party, some of the characters watch a Humphrey Bogart movie in the Sopranos' living room. Some of the kids have fallen asleep by that point, but the truly funny sight is Paulie, mouth open, passed out on the couch.
Genius Bonus: Christopher's family name Moltisanti is Italian for "many saints". Hence, the film's title is actually "The Moltisantis of Newark".
He Really Can Act: Michael Gandolfini absolutely nails the role of young Tony Soprano as he not only looks like a younger Tony, but he also uses many of the same mannerisms and vocal inflections that his father James Gandolfini used when he played the role, making it completely believable that this is a younger version of the same character. Many watched the film to see him act as a young Tony and walked away satisfied, with some reviewers claiming that he'd exceeded their expectations and the cast praising Michael for his performance.
It's Short, So It Sucks!: The biggest complaint about the film is that it tries to pack a lot into its two-hour runtime and that making it longer, or even extending it into a miniseries rather than a movie, would've given it more time to explore the various characters and plot threads in more detail.
Love to Hate: Most viewers and critics agree that Vera Farmiga absolutely nailed her performance as younger Livia Soprano and the volatility and toxicity she captured in the character made her one of the most memorable parts of the film.
Moral Event Horizon:
- Dickie drowning his mistress in an act of jealous rage because she had sex with Harold. Granted, Harold had just murdered one of Dickie's crew, but that was because Dickie had tortured and murdered Harold's cousin first.
- If Junior didn’t cross it before, he definitely did when he had Dickie assassinated for laughing at him.
Most Wonderful Sound: Anyone familiar with The Sopranos will be hit hard by the nostalgia train when the film’s trailer ends with the iconic opening riff of Alabama 3’s "Woke Up This Morning". The song playing in full over the credits of the actual film has a similar effect.
Narm:
- John Magaro's portrayal of Silvio Dante has been criticized as being nothing more than a comical impression of Steven van Zandt's original take on the character. The same has also been said of Billy Magnussen's portrayal of Paulie Walnuts, but to a slightly lesser extent.
- Dickie's Imagine Spot of coaching a baseball team of blind youths is meant to be profound, but many found it to be so horrendously cheesy.
- Some have found The Reveal that Chris is outright canonically confirmed to be in hell, in a series with downplayed, ambiguous supernatural elements to be a little over the top.
So Okay, It's Average: While some of the actors like Vera Farmiga and Michael Gandolfini give memorable performances, the promising plot ultimately wasn't done justice and feels disjointed and crammed. Critics have noted that the movie would have worked better as a miniseries instead.
They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character: Harold has a great storyline, compelling goals, and is set up to be a major player while being portrayed by a talented actor, but the audience spends so little time with him that his rise to power and animosity with Dickie falls flat.
They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot: Another common complaint with the movie is that a lot of the plot threads don't get taken advantage of enough for a more compelling story due to having to go under the two-hour runtime, and leaving the overall movie without a real focus and many subplots without any real payoff.
Tough Act to Follow: The original show remains one of the most acclaimed television dramas of all time, so a followup movie prequel released long after it ending was highly anticipated. However, most viewers agreed that the end product didn't live up to the high standards set by the show, with the major criticism that choosing a movie format hurt the story, as so many plot threads are set up that it spreads itself way too thin trying to cover so much in under two hours, leaving the plot disjointed, confusing, and meandering. Compare the show's 9.2/10 rating on IMDb to this movie's 6.3/10 score.

YMMV / The Many Saints of Newark

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