"The Many Saints of Newark" reminded me sharply of the Trump Organization

[MineralMan]

My wife and I watched this prequel movie to "The Sopranos" yesterday afternoon. We watched the series and wanted to see the prequel.

As I watched, I noticed parallels between the amoral behavior of the mobbed-up main characters and that of Trump and Trumpers. Behind the seemingly benign faces and normal everyday behavior lurks a violent and deadly anger that can burst out at any moment, and for little to no reason, really. That's true in both groups - the characters in the movie and the vicious, unthinking rabble that makes up the Trump movement.

Such behavior has become more or less normalized across the country. Teachers snatching hijabs off the heads of little girls or removing masks and deliberately breathing hard on a child. Police beating up minorities with no reason whatever. Armed men in fake tactical gear showing up at peaceful gatherings to intimidate and strike fear into those with whom they disagree.

Last night someone shot up a scene outside of a bar in St. Paul, where I lived until recently. Multiple people were injured by gunshots. Why did the gunman shoot? I don't know, but it's bound to be senseless and without any justifiable reason. The gangsters are becoming bolder and bolder.

The climax of the movie, which I won't spoil with a description, solidified the inexplicable, senseless behavior of those gangsters in my mind. We are moving toward such events in our own society, it seems. Prepare yourself for it. That's my advice.

[shelshaw]

1. Your comparison just ruined it for me ☹️

[MineralMan]

4. Why? I wrote no spoilers.

I didn't create the movie, nor am I a part of the Trump movement.

[shelshaw]

10. Lol! I only meant that you smeared a good movie with orange feces. 😂

[MineralMan]

13. Sorry, but the comparison suggested itself, I think.

Oh, well...

[HipChick]

2. It was a bit too violent

for my soul..

but agree with your sentiment

[MineralMan]

7. Yes, the violence was very graphic and disturbing.

However, I prefer realism to a cartoonish approach to violence. I had to look away, though, a few times.

[HipChick]

14. the 'would be dentist' scene

did it for me...

Not withstanding I have a dentist appt this week...

[MineralMan]

15. Umm, yeah.

I was out of the room for that scene.

[PCIntern]

3. I agree with your premise.

I was a Sopranos fan. This film, IMO, was devoid of every attribute which made the series terrific.

[MineralMan]

5. Well, I thought the movie was a well-done prequel.

it informed me in many ways about the general tenor of the series and laid a background for me.

I didn't dislike the movie, and I was a regular watcher of the series, which also created a mostly unsympathetic view of the characters it portrayed, and make clear the conflict between their public lives and their lives as part of a criminal enterprise.

[PCIntern]

6. I understand.

I thought the script was atrocious.

[MineralMan]

8. I'm not a film critic at that level.

I don't do script analysis or anything like that. I watch the movie and react to it, in one way or another.

[PCIntern]

9. Yes,

Again in my opinion, the beauty of the Sopranos was the communication of the personas via the script and the acting and the verisimilitude of the individuals and the plot. At first, I thought it was very effective to have the people speaking from the grave, but unfortunately was disappointed with the dialogue.

To each his own however and it certainly filled in some blanks.

[MineralMan]

12. Well, the series had ample time for character development.

You learned the characters, episode by episode. If the movie was to be able to stand on its own, the characters had to be defined almost instantly, so their characteristics had to be disclosed right away. That's always an issue in some thing that has to be complete in just a couple of hours.

Of course, in this case, the audience comes to the film with a preset knowledge of the general nature of those characters, even though it is about the past. Tony's just a kid, after all, when the movie begins.

[Mossfern]

11. Thanks for the warning

about the graphic violence. I was really eager to watch this because for the past 40 years I've lived in 'Soprano Land' - I'm familiar with many of the locations and part of the series was filmed in my town. We in Essex County NJ can very well relate and I knew many people that mirrored the characters in real life.

I just don't have the stomach for blood and guts.