Robert De Niro plays dual roles in this mobster crime biopic from Oscar-winning director Barry Levinson and the Oscar-nominated writer of Goodfellas. De Niro is both Vito Genovese and Frank Costello, a pair of Italian Americans who run two separate crime families in the mid-20th century. Genovese attempted to assassinate Costello in 1957, although Costello retired from the mob.