Speaking Too Soon.

Does anyone else notice characters speaking slightly too soon in Part II? This mannerism really takes me out of the film's reality because it exposes the characters as prepared actors. I wonder if this is a directorial choice.


-Johnny Ola: "One by one, our old friends are all dead." This remark, changing the topic of conversation, seems to come in a beat too soon, as he hadn't really been listening to Michael or thinking about what they were saying.
-Neri: talking about the High Court of Israel's ruling on Hyman Roth. His speaking manner during the entire scene here seems rushed and contrived, as if reading from a script. As an acting student, I may be projecting myself onto him, but Richard Bright seems to be attempting to disguise his (the actor's) genuine nervousness (perhaps at working with such high-caliber peers) as Neri's scorn, but it doesn't work for me.

Compare these actors' choices with the naturalism of Caan or Gazzo. Like Ola and Neri, Hagen also seem to have a somewhat stiffer "prepared" speaking style.

You could look at it that way. Another way of looking at it: The Johnny Ola character is a con man and is totally insincere. He's Roth's front man. We learn later that Roth wants Michael dead, and that Ola and Roth have corrupted Fredo. So, you could say that the scene introduces the Roth character even before we see him, and that Ola is expounding on Roth's virtues as a way of conning Michael to make him more amenable to Roth's deal.


Richard Bright, let's face it, was hardly a great actor. and a big part of it was that he wasn't any good at dialog. That may have been one of the reasons he got so few lines. I see the significance of that scene as Neri pushing past Rocco, and trying to push past Tom, to become Michael's #2 man. He played that part well. Notice how he leads the discussion about Roth's whereabouts. Notice how he sits back, relaxed, while Rocco stands, looking tense. Also notice how, when Michael slams Tom about getting an outside offer, and how he can take his wife, his mistress and his family and live in Vegas, Neri smirks--as if he were the source of that info.

Too soon? I don't see or hear that at all. I think you're really looking for something that isn't there.

Also TB, I don't know why some Board members persist with this Neri competition with anyone. There's nothing in the films to support it. He was chosen by Michael from day one to be his closest family member and he remained so sans competition.

Neri was Mike's second in command since the meeting in vitos office when mike announces the Vegas move. His character was such that be didn't need to speak to get the job done or his point across. If they would have left the klingman scene in, you would have seen neri loose his temper. He did jobs without getting emotional ( except for j would argue the fredo affair) you can see his dismay when like tells him to let fredo go until mama dies, even more so at her funeral when mike gives him the look.
As for characters, how about when at the wedding, 100 .lb Paulie reaches inside his jacket like he' s gonna grab his gun if the FBI guy, then gives him the horn symbol with his hand. Bad writing of you ask me.

Yes and no. Michael never had anyone's position in cement. When he went to Cuba he left Tom in charge, not Neri because at that time he needed Tom's temperament and brains to keep Kay under control, and to run things on an even keel. Neri could not have filled that role. This elevation of Tom gave Neri the incentive to try even harder to re establish himself, at least in his own worldview. He got the goods on Tom's job offers and mistress, and he was more than content to allow Rocco to volunteer for the suicide mission. By the time of III, neri was the only one left, and he was stragely unambitious. He fell right into line when Vincent became the new Don, and he followed the order to go to Rome and shoot the Archbishop.

I don't know DT. He left Tom in charge because at that moment he couldn't trust anyone except Tom. But still, there is no indication that Neri was ever less than Michael's right hand man.

Another (perhaps parallel) possibility: By using an outside bodyguard, Michael was signaling Roth that he didn't trust (or hadn't ruled out) Neri and Rocco, and was still looking inward (inside his family) rather than outward (toward Roth).

It served a double purpose. It clearly showed Roth that Michael did not trust anyone in his family (except that guy who brought the suitcase full of cash to Havana ---more misfirection?). Also, Tom needed Neri's muscle in Nevada to provide physical protection for the family and to blackmail Geary.