And yet...Michael seemed so loving, tender and attentive toward Anthony when visiting him in the bedroom after the First Communion party.

I think Michael did love his children, and his wife. But he became so obsessed, so consumed with running the Business that he could never really show it in the way a younger Michael could have. In the early years with Kay, before Vito's shooting he was a different person.

Also, the devastating loss of Appolonia years earlier may have contributed to Mike's unintentional coldness and distantness toward his family. Once he lost her, he could never really be as open with his affection again.

Apple