Sharon Francisco Fealy

Resubmitted after Google identified a small curse word and took my original review down. Hopefully 'hack' isn't too strong! Originally reviewed on the day the film released. A garbled mess. Watching this was maddening. I started clock watching very quickly as the film kept skipping around seemingly unconnected plotlines, lazy, on-the-nose pop culture references, virtually every possible mob cliché and a bizarre subplot that gave me the feeling that I'd walked into the wrong film. As probably one of the only human being alive who hasn't seen the series, I couldn't make comparisons or appreciate any of the nuances that might refer back to it (I'm told there weren't any of real note). From the opening credits, I got the distinct impression that the film was geared at rewarding for those who watched the Sopranos and that, at the very least, it would spark some nostalgia or raise a smile. But, I thought, if it's engaging enough it might just foster a new generation of series fans. So to that point it was a total sucker punch to have a major spoiler drop within the opening line delivered by a central character from the series in such a wasteful and pointless narrative move. This is later repeated, twice, just in case it didn't hack you off enough the first time. Punished for not doing my homework before audaciously watching a film? Perhaps. But I do know film and this experience was simply abysmal. My husband, who has professed it to be his favourite of all time series, disliked it almost as much as I did. On the dejected walk home he reassured me that the series is NOTHING like the film... So on that recommendation I think I'm going to watch it. If you've seen the series, don't expect a Sopranos prequel. If you haven't, don't expect a decent film.