In another thread, pizzaboy posted the article about Richard Bright and it got me to thinking about one of the rare moments of dialog Bright has in GF II.

After Pentangeli's tipsy tirade in the boathouse that concludes with one of the great exits in film ("Cicc', a porta!"), Neri asks Michael, "Do you want him to leave now?" to which Michael replies "NO (emphasis added). Let him go back to New York. I've already made my plans."

Did Neri perceive Pentangeli as a threat at that moment? Was Neri counseling Michael about the perceived threat and actually asking for the order to kill Pentangeli by asking Michael if he wanted him to leave? If so, that's some sense of urgency and some quick thinking by Neri to telegraph his thoughts to Michael in the manner that he did, and ask for approval on his action plan while in a room with a group of people who shouldn't be privy to that type of conversation!

(Did you like the way Neri crossed his arms on the bar and put his head down like it was kindergarten nap time?)

And, more importantly, it sounds like Michael understood exactly what Neri was implying when Michael responded with an explicit NO (as if to say, "He doesn't have to 'leave' now (nudge, nudge, wink, wink!)" and reaffirmed his decision by saying it's OK for Pentangeli to go back to New York.

Or it could have been just a couple of throwaway lines to finish the scene so we could get Michael into the bedroom to close the drapes...where the real discussion about this movie begins...

tony b.

How you enter isn't quite so important as how you exit."

No, I just think that Neri felt that Frankie's words and demeanor had spoiled the celebration for Michael just as Geary and Deanna had. Nothing more.

It was obvious that Pentangeli was "leaving" when he stormed out of the room. It is not likely he was a house guest, so obviously he was headed to a hotel and probably would go back to New York the next day. From this I think Neri was feeling Michael out to see if he wanted Frankie out of the way, thus Michael's response which was not only to "let" him go back to New York, but also that Frank was an old man who had too much wine...in otherwords, he was not a threat. Which, ironically turned out not to be the case. One of the few times the paranoid Michael did not see someone as a threat.