THEAI GUY

If you have not watched the Sopranos series, then this review is not for you. Naturally, with the film being out only a few hours, I will avoid any spoilers. Unless you have not watched the series, then there might be a spoiler or two. It all depends on what you expect from the movie, I guess. I was very cautious about reading any other reviews before writing mine to avoid sounding generic. It is not getting five stars because the film failed to develop more characters than I anticipated. For example, Johnny boy, to name one of the few. It wasn't very reassuring to miss out on an intro to Jackie Aprile. However, I must say I did enjoy the portrayals of Sil and Paulie Walnut. But they, too, could have done with a little more action. I guess all I can hope for is a couple of seasons follow to up the film. The protagonist was not Tony Soprano. Instead, the story developed around Tony's idol Dick Moltisanti (Christopher's father). Although Tony's character's time is limited in the film, the unfolding stories and what he bore witness off help viewers understand the complexities of Adult Tony Soprano. The film touches on the many themes that the series explored—for example, articles like family, church, infidelity, violence, centrism, etc. Just like in the series, there was no moderation whenever they needed to portray racism. The central theme was greed, desire, and suffering. Parallel to the series, the protagonist was continually justified for his actions so that the viewers could appreciate him as the hero. It appeared as if the hero was always trying to do right by everyone but was always unlucky. That is how the story in this film becomes a tragedy. (No spoilers here, if you have watched the series, Dickie Moltisanti dies). Overall, the writers did spur me many emotions with the ending. It was a joyful ride. I will undoubtedly watch it again. And I will remain hopeful that a couple of seasons will follow with the same actors. PS. The acting was all top-notch!