Originally Posted By: Turnbull
Very good question, LW. \:\) But, while I can see MC's point about "slippin'", I think it was actually an example of Michael at his most manipulative:
At first, it looked like Vincent was the manipulator: barging into the party, buttering up Connie ("How's my favorite aunt?"), getting Connie to bring him to Michael's office with a pointed reminder ("You remember Vincent--Sonny's boy.") Michael seems to ignore Vincent's warnings about Zasa's bad-mouthing him and peddling dope, etc. He puts Vincent down right in front of Zasa and The Ant ("I offered you a job with me in the legitimate world. You turned me down...that was foolish...Mr. Joe Zasa gave you a job out of the goodness of his heart."). Then he says, "Make your peace with Joe Zasa." Oh-oh: looks like Michael's thrown Vincent to the wolves--he's practically given Zasa a license to whack Vincent.

But, I believe Michael already knew that Zasa was a potential threat to him. He tried to put it aside while basking in his new status as a Papal Knight. But Vincent brought him back to reality. (Attest the dialog when he asked Zasa what kind of man would go around shouting "F*** Michael Corleone"). I think Michael was testing Vincent--"Ok, kid, you want to be my muscle? Let's see how far you'll go." Sure enough, Vincent saw that if he "made his peace" with Zasa, he'd be dead. So he bit his ear instead. Now, it looked like he'd forced Michael to choose "blood over water." In reality, Michael,recognizing that he really needed new muscle in addition to more laywers, had trapped Vincent into a point of no return: now he had to stick with Michael.
And, why Vincent?
In the novel, Michael asks Vito why he needed Luca Brasi--"an animal like that?" Vito replied to the effect that, "In this world, there are some men who go around shouting, 'kill me, kill me...the trick is to make yourself the only person in the world who he desires not to kill him...then he is yours." Puzo writes, "It was one of the most valuable lessons given by the Don before he died, and Michael had used it to make Neri his Luca Brasi." Now, Neri was old, and Michael had made Vincent his new Luca Brasi.


GFIII may not have been as good as the other films, but it was pretty good. Also, I didn't have any problem with Sophia's performance.

That being said, I agree with your analysis TB. Michael could not possibly have forgotten how ruthless his business was. He still needed a good strong young right arm. His words to Zasa in his office about anyone who says f**k Michael Corleone shows undeniably that he still had some raw instincts and inclination.

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