Rocco was killed by the police after he killed Hyman Roth, why didn`t he send a soldier of his regime to do the risky job? After all, he was a caporegime, he made his bones a long time ago, he did not deserve to die.

Because killing Roth in the presence of the FBI guards was very difficult - almost a suicide mission - and would require a top man. Michael wanted to be one hundred percent certain that Roth would be killed, because that was his last chance to get to Roth.

This has come up before (as most things have)

Here's what I said in an earlier thread....

I never interpreted Mike asking Rocco ("Rocco?...."Difficult, not impossible") to mean that it actually had to be Rocco himself who carried out the hit.

I'm sure Mike would have known Rocco's plan and approved it, but had Rocco had an alternate yet viable plan for killing Roth, I'm sure Michael would have approved that one as well.

Rocco probably figured it was a suicide mission, and when Mike heard Rocco's plan, he probably figured out it was a suicide mission also.

We could even add to the plot that Mike tried to talk Rocco out of carrying out the hit himself.

But I think the plan itself was Rocco's idea, not Michael's, and that's why I think there's the element of Rocco seeking some type or redemption here (as Turnbull will argue). Either for his complicity in the "Assassinate Michael" scheme (unlikely, I think), or his failing Mike in not having the premises adequately secure on the night of the attempt on Michael (more likely, IMO).

Or maybe it's what I think Turnbull has suggested in the past: Rocco was being pushed out by Neri, and he simply intended to re-establish his importance in Michael's eyes.

I like the way he answers Michael so quickly, while calmly munching on a piece of fruit.

Since plaw has referred to my earlier theory on this question:

A subtheme in GFII is how Neri attempts to push Hagen and Rocco aside to become #2 to Michael. Many examples, but the best one is in the penultimate boat house scene. We see Neri lead the discussion, slouched in a chair, talking about Roth's moves, giving a smug little grin when Michael confronts Tom with his knowledge of another job offer and Tom's mistress (Neri probably was the source of that knowledge). Rocco just stands silently, like the mere bodyguard he was in most of GFII. After Tom objects to Michael's plan to have Roth killed, Michael further humiliates him: "You know, Tom, you surprise me...if there's one certainty...it's that you can kill anyone." The he immediately says, Rocco?" Notice that he didn't say, "Al?" Michael put Rocco on the spot: after Tom's humiliation, what could Rocco say, except, "difficult, not impossible."
So, why did he take on this apparent suicide mission? Because Michael, in effect, left him no choice. And, perhaps, because he saw it as a last-ditch attempt to push ahead of Neri. IMO, it was too late: Michael had decided that Rocco was expendible, Neri wasn't.

Geoff, SC or DC: Please wake up plaw--my repeat posts are the greatest soporifics since Quaalude.

Are these filed alphabetically, chronologically, by character name, or what?

So far this is at least the seventeenth times you've begun a post with "A subtheme in GFII is how Neri attempts to push Hagen and Rocco aside to become #2 to Michael...."

...but at least I'm not in denial about Rocco's taste for Chinese food...

I know we have this collective psyche for making this story real, but from a film perspective having Rocco kill Roth makes for a better scene than some button man. It gives us more to speculate about too.

But in GF I, MaryCas, they also used Neri and Cicci as buttonman, during the baptism scene. They were unknown buttonman at that time too.

There is no question Rocco has not lived up to Michael's expectations, and that Neri is much closer to him. I think Rocco sees the assassination of Roth to be his ultimate challenge, and his guarantee that he will always be regarded as a good soldier of the Corleone family. No doubt he, like Pentangeli had a blood family of his own and he well knew that if he died in the assination of Roth that they would always be "taken care of." Of course if somehow he survived it AND escaped the police, he would be a hero, and his place in the family cemented for life. He probably could have retired even.

Clemenza was the one who picked out Rocco, he had him come along to kill Paulie so he could replace Paulie and get made...Remember in the book Clemenza's washing his car because it helps him thin k and he comes up with Rocco....Right>?????


Joe Batters

I think thats truly an amazing theory, Turnbull's Neri theory. GFII's ability to create speculation and leave room for interpretation is one of the main reasons I consider it my absolute favorite film of all time. Turnbull's theory is just one perfect example of GFII displaying that ability.

Mike always preferred Neri as he selected him himself. Rocco was part of the old regime. Although he had ascended to Capo under Mike. That was probably because he knew one of Clemenza or Tessio would turn traitor and he needed a quick replacement who knew the ropes.

Rocco seems to be quite close to Mike all the same, we see him huddled close to Mike in the scene where Kay says she's leaving. Neri throughout the film is given some nasty jobs, mutilating the whore and shooting Fredo in the head.

Mike clearly thinks he needs to trim down his personnel if he wants to avoid being assasinated again. He knows Neri can be trusted because of all the times he has gone beyond the call of duty for him (Rocco WITH GUYS shoots Tattaglia in a dingy bedroon, Neri shoots Barzini and TWO others ALONE in broad daylight) It also looks possible to me that Mike MAY have suspected Rocco for murdering Mike's two assasins as he must have known Fredo himself was not capable of killing anyone

No real points made, just some random thoughts on a fascinating area