Y2K (18, 91 mins)

The Alto Knights (15, 120 mins)

Verdict: De Niro doubled

Sometimes a film comes with a pedigree you can’t ignore. The Alto Knights, directed by Barry Levinson, written by Nick Pileggi and starring Robert De Niro, is such a film.

Levinson, now 82, has a formidable and eclectic list of credits, including The Natural (1984), Good Morning, Vietnam (1987), Rain Man (1988), Bugsy (1991) and Wag The Dog (1997).

Pileggi adapted Goodfellas (1990) and Casino (1995) from his own non-fiction books.

And De Niro, of course, needs no trumpeting.

Moreover, The Alto Knights offers us two De Niro performances for the price of one.

With the help of facial prosthetics to distinguish between them, the veteran actor plays a pair of real-life New York Mob bosses, Frank Costello (huge nose, dyed hair) and Vito Genovese (broken nose, big chin).

Both proteges of Mafia overlord Lucky Luciano, they were old friends, hanging out at the Alto Knights Social Club in Little Italy. Yet the film opens in 1957 with Costello surviving a hit ordered by Genovese, then whisks us back to explain what ignited their feud.

There are myriad reasons, but they all boil down to envy. Luciano had favoured Costello as his successor, and when Genovese legged it to Italy to swerve a murder rap, his old pal consolidated his hold on organised crime.

The Alto Knights, directed by Barry Levinson, written by Nick Pileggi and starring Robert De Niro, is a film with pedigree you can’t ignore

With the help of facial prosthetics to distinguish between them, the veteran actor plays a pair of real-life New York Mob bosses

Genovese, as depicted here, was H๏τ-headed and paranoid. Costello was better-connected, more urbane, and smart enough not to act like a gangster, if only in public. He had no gun and no bodyguard. He was also devotedly (and, we’re led to believe, faithfully) married for many decades to the same woman, Bobbie (Debra Messing).

It was not until Vito and his wife Anna (Kathrine Narducci) went to court to resolve their acrimonious differences, and she loudly named Costello as one of her husband’s ᴀssociates, that the press started describing him as rather more than ‘a gambler’.

All this unfolds slickly and entertainingly enough in The Alto Knights, with an explanatory voiceover by Costello that Pileggi can’t be accused of ripping off from Goodfellas, given that he wrote that too. And needless to add, the period detail is impeccable, even if 1950s

New York City, as so often in the movies, is made to look considerably more chic than it perhaps felt at the time.

So why, given everything in its favour (and the fact I adore a good gangster movie) did I feel slightly disconnected throughout?

I think it has something to do with De Niro’s twin roles, a whimsical and distracting flourish that adds nothing except an entirely superfluous reminder that the old fella can act.

I suppose it could be that they wanted Joe Pesci for the role – De Niro plays Genovese more or less exactly as Pesci would have done, even with a higher-pitched voice that makes it seem like an actual impersonation. But I can’t believe there wasn’t other heavyweight talent available. Maybe the likes of Al Pacino, Dustin Hoffman and Martin Sheen should join those dwarf actors waving placards outside Snow White (see bottom panel).

Y2K (18, 91 mins)

Verdict: Gruesomely unfunny

Speaking of Snow White, this is quite a week for Rachel Zegler, who not only plays the sweet-tempered princess but also, in Y2K, a pretty teenage computer whizz. This is a comedy-slasher movie тιтled after the so-called millennium bug that, although it’s easily forgotten, caused widespread anxiety as the 21st century loomed.

Y2K is a comedy-slasher movie тιтled after the so-called millennium bug that caused widespread anxiety as the 21st century loomed

Kyle Mooney’s film, too, is easily forgotten. Eli (Jaeden Martell) is a bullied high-school kid with a huge crush on Laura (Zegler) but only one proper friend, Danny, a charismatic, overweight New Zealander (Julian Dennison from 2016’s Hunt For The Wilderpeople).

At a party on New Year’s Eve 1999, practically everything that contains a computer chip or even just a battery goes berserk, slaughtering and dismembering teenagers in all sorts of gruesome ways, none of them especially scary or funny. But you can’t fault Y2K for gore.

All films are in cinemas now.

Also Showing 

Dawn Of Impressionism: Paris, 1874 (PG, 90 mins)

Dawn of Impressionism: Paris, 1874 begins with the sound of auctioneers closing sales of Impressionist paintings: ‘I sell to you, madam, for 97 million.’ But in the 1870s, those artists that are now household names were ignored or reviled. ‘Insults are beating down on me like hail,’ wrote Edouard Manet.

Ali Ray’s excellent film draws on the artists’ letters to tell their story; showing how cultural and political circumstances ignited the Impressionist movement.

Fascinating stuff.

Flow (U, 85 mins)

There’s an Impressionist vibe about the exquisite, dialogue-free Flow, by Latvian Gints Zilbalodis, which just won the Best Animated Feature Oscar. 

It’s set in an apparently post-apocalyptic world with no humans, just animals (right), joining forces to cope with rising floodwaters. Beautifully done.