Despite having Ray Liotta appear in two roles, THE MANY SAINTS OF NEWARK is no Goodfellas.

However, Liotta’s performances are perfect, and perfect reason to see the film. He plays, Hollywood Dick, the father of the main character Dickie Moltisanti, as well as his brother, Salvatore, incarcerated for life for the murder of another family member.

After Dickie kills his father, Salvatore becomes Dickie’s accidental spiritual adviser. Inside prison, Sally has become a voracious reader, jazz aficionado and Zen philosopher. His good advice to Dickie has an adverse effect on his relationship with the young Tony Soprano.

In the HBO series, THE SOPRANOS, Dickie was never seen, having passed away years earlier, but was often described as Tony’s esteemed and much-missed mentor. Dickie is the one of the “many saints” (or “moltisanti” in Italian) of the film’s title, and is well served by Alessandro Nivola’s characterisation.

A mid-level gangster in the DiMeo crime family, Dickie has his hands in all sorts of illegal activity but aspires for more. And as Sally sagely says, it’s the wanting that is the undoing and seeds of greed create a strangling weed.

THE MANY SAINTS OF NEWARK may not be the classic film the classic television series that spawned it is, nevertheless there is plenty to enjoy with choice takes on early renditions of characters that populated the The Sopranos.

Vera Farmiga as Tony’s mum and Corey Stoll as Uncle Junior are particularly good and, of course, the card up the sleeve is the casting of Michael Gandolfini as the teenage Tony. What could have played as merely gimmick casting pays off in spades as Michael gives a nicely nuanced portrayal. William Ludwig also shines as an even younger version of Tony.

“It’s the wanting” says Salvatore. And no doubt, fans wanted more of The Sopranos. But will the focus-shift from Tony and his inner turmoil to the foundations of the environment that fostered his evolution as a mobster be enough to satisfy the wanting?