Early in GF II Pentangeli comes off as a not too bright successor to Clemenza. He drinks from a hose, complains that there are no Italians in the orchestra, thinks canapes is a
"can of peas" thinks champagne is "champagne cocktails." He also gets drunk and pretty much makes an ass of himself. Then when Michael surprises him in New York he doesn't understand why Michael wants him to pretend he is friendly to the Rosato Brothers because he claims he doesn't have Mike's brain for "big deals." As the movie progresses, however, he suddenly becomes wiser and more intelligent. When his brother shows up at the hearing, he understands exactly what he has to do, which is deny that Michael was a crime boss. He does this without any coaching at all. Then at the end when Hagen leads him into the idea of suicide, they talk extensively about how Frankie was against appeasement of Hitler in the 30's and about details of Roman History (Clemenza, who is also considered dumber than Tessio was also on to Hitler early on). Tom compliments Frankie on his knowledge of history and Frankie replies that he still reads it all the time and that he gets "good stuff" (meaning reading materials) at the Army base. So whats the deal? Is Pentangeli the buffoon we see in the beginning of the movie or the shrewd underboss we see at the end?