The Last Don II

"The Last Don (Part I)" is not a spectacle but at least it's a very decent gangster film. Part II is a complete disaster, filled with a ridiculous plot, shallow (and highly unconvincing) characters, and poor acting from the likes of Miss Patsy Kensit.

The plot is nothing new: the head of the mafia family dies, the good nephew Cross, whose wife is murdered, comes back to the family and takes control of the family business. The film tries to make Cross a tragic hero being haunted by the past (his dreaming of his dead father), and portrays him as an angel being forced to become a mafia boss. We repeatedly see him showing "mercy" at those who betray him, yet as soon as he walks away, his henchmen always finish the job for him. Is the film trying to tell us that Cross is, after all, innocent of (some of) the crimes, that it's his henchmen, but not him, who are truly evil? Give us a break.

It is easy for Kristie Alley's character to gain our sympathy. After all, her husband and son are killed by her own family members. Her hatred towards her family (she spits and attacks the Don's dead body) is perfectly understandable, but one really wonders why she never leaves them. Instead, she cries every day, curses every one, and has no problem living on the expenses of her family which she detests, and retires to her little bedroom in the family house every night. She seeks consolation in the priest and falls in love with him, and when her family intervenes and uses the bishop to persuade the priest to give her up, she goes home and returns to her normal life of crying and cursing. Perhaps she is meant to be a doomed woman, unable to break away from the "evil clutches", but it is naive to assume that she's a totally innocent victim. There is no way that she can get away from the responsibility for causing her own sufferings.

The most incredibly pathetic character in the film must be the Austrian film star Dirk von Schelberg, obviously modelled on "Arnold". Dirk, with his very blond hair, fake German accent and unnecessary affection (to Claudia) in the public, is meant to be a contrast to his scheming, black-haired and cold-blooded Italian family-in-law. His character is completely hollow, and his presence (making a film called "The Fumigator" in which he kills giant insects) is a sad joke. It's even more pathetic to see Claudia genuinely mourns over his betrayal (his casual affairs), and her efforts to revive her studio from the Fumigator crisis.

Last but not least, is of course, Miss Patsy Kensit, who plays an undercover cop in Cross' family (as the teacher of Cross' "autistic" adopted daughter -- and no, the girl is not autistic, but mentally-challenged, and the film fails to tell the difference between the two) and suffers from a tremendous conflict when she genuinely falls in love with Cross. Her character lacks substance (it's embarrassing to see her trying to prove her loyalty to Cross) and Kensit's performance is poor beyond words, which is, as a matter of fact, up to her usual standard.

The story is good as is the plot and action. But the actors and actresses are a joke. This movie tries to rival the Godfather, but fails miserably. First of all, Jason Gedrick (a great actor) plays a lousy mobster. He is too soft and frail looking for a mafia tough guy. The characters of Claudia, Georgio, and the undercover FBI female cop --- were all played by lousy actors and actresses. They need real Italians like - Joe Pecshi, Al Pacino, Paul Sorvino, Alyssia Milano, Tony Danza, or others. This movie may have been made for TV, but any solid Italians would laugh at this movie as it doesn't portray alot of Italian culture in it. Italian Culture is important for mob movies. I don't remember any of the characters speaking alot of Italian in the movie. And the character who played Claudia's unfaithful husband--- OH Please! What a loser! As if a Mafia girl would ever get involvoed with a fruitcake loser like that. But Kirsty Alley did a great job acting in the movie. Probably the best person in the movie.

The sequel to the wonderful "The Last Don" is a bit on the lighter but funnier side. Yet it works just as well. I have not seen the TV version, but the complete mini-series. It is longer (about 50 minutes) but I got more plot, more violence (the sequel is more graphic than the original) and oh, yes, more nudity (the first one had no nudity at all, and I should know since I watched the complete mini-series as well: four hours and a half). We get to admire the beauty of Andrew Jackson's buttocks. By the way, he is doing a very funny and successful imitation of Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Most of the original cast returns. The only one who doesn't return is Daryl Hannah (who played Jason Gedrick's wife). She had been replaced by someone else, but it doesn't matter because her character is disposed off very quickly. Danny Aiello returns as the pivotal character, but he dies of old age (he was 86 years old) in the first 10 minutes. Even Joe Mantegna returns as Jason Gedrick's father, even if he was killed in the original movie. He comes in his son's dreams. Really. Give me a break. That it is the only thing that sounds shallow in this film. And again, the always fabulous Kirstie Alley comes back with a more important part: she falls in love for the first time in 30 years, with a Catholic priest nonetheless. And again her world crashes again, just when she was happy. Her last line in the movie is immortal. She tells Giorgio's future wife (Giorgio was her brother and one of her husband's killers): "I hope you will be just as happy as I was."

The sequel is a welcome continuation to the Clericuzio saga. If the Trimark bosses can hear me, bring on the third part. I can barely wait.

8/10.

P.S.: Does anyone know that "Last Don 2" was filmed in Toronto? I recognized one of the location in the movie. When Rose Marie comes to get her lover from the church, she goes to a church called "St. Cecilia Church". Well the location is very real because I pass almost every day by this church. Fellow Torontians, the church is located at the intersection of Annette St. & Pacific Ave.

Very unlikely. Younger generation of mobsters kill everyone, just as The Godfather series has made us expect if it wasn't the cast is not credible, acting is one-dimension, sets are not credible. Yawn. I wished everyone who think this was good could see the Omerta tv series which was way beyond this.

I re watched this recently, and just shook my head. Putting aside the overacting that border-lined on caricature, and many poor attempts at creating "atmosphere", The Last Don II made the unforgivable omission of having little to no focus on eating! This is a crucial element to any mob movie, any movie about Italian-American culture in general for that matter.Where were the sausage and peppers,the spaghetti with the "Sunday gravy"? How could this be omitted. Meals are also an important element of setting someone up to be whacked. In movies, and historically, wise guys are often "hit" while sitting down to dinner. This is part of the reason so much gusto goes into eating; because a wise guy knows that any meal may be his last, so, one may as well enjoy that meal to its fullest!

On another note, I found it amusing just how Canadian this production was. I didn't need to see the CN Tower in the background, or to read the credits. As a Canadian who has grown up watching many lukewarm tax credited productions, you can just tell!