Rich Man, Poor Man - Book II

Rich Man, Poor Man, Book II is mildly interesting but not really worthy of its predecessor.

The original is a classic and truly a historic benchmark in television. It, of course benefitted from the star-making effort of Nick Nolte as Tom. It also benefitted from a great story spanning decades.

RMPM, B2 is much less compelling and is overly long though much less complex.

The cast is great though. Peter Strauss is a fine actor. I generally enjoy every he's in. Gregg Henry as Tom's son Wes ably handles the role.

Penny Peyser is great as Ramona as well.

All in all, you will probably want to watch this if you are a fan of the original miniseries. I enjoyed the follow up novel by Irwin Shaw, Beggarman, Thief more.

While RICH MAN, POOR MAN BOOK II is no RICH MAN, POOR MAN being impossible to replace Nick Nolte after he dies in the original's climax, it's a pretty great sequel, mostly thanks to William Smith as crazy villain Anthony Falconetti who, while shaping-up and tearing-down the last four episodes of the first venture, is now a continuously formidable presence, not only stealing scenes but destroying anyone and anything in his wake...

And this time the POOR MAN is twofold... Since there's no luckless boxer/sailor Nolte to contrast returning star and now sole headliner Peter Strauss as ambitious, sometimes idealistic Senator/businessman Rudy Jordache, Nolte's beloved son, Wesley (Gregg Henry) and con artist Billy (James Carroll Jordan), neglected son of Bill Bixby and Susan Blakely (the latter providing merely a cameo), both take the POOR spot in different ways...

Wesley's broke despite being taken in by his RICH uncle while Billy fights to make it big in the music industry, so he's basically the young climber version of Peter Strauss while Wesley, blond and muscular like dad, takes Nolte's hapless workingman route, almost having an affair with tough, stubborn yet incredibly cute girl-next-door/union man's daughter Penny Peyser... until Billy gets in quicker and ignites an addictive whirlwind romance/love triangle...

But there are so many characters to cover, including a resilient, quick-witted Susan Sullivan as Rudy's girlfriend lawyer (particularly during D. C. hearings straight from THE GODFATHER II including crooked senator G. D. Spradlin and Peter Donat), whose daughter Kimberly Beck is a flirtatious teenager smitten with Wesley when, by the 11th hour, all the characters wind up in Sin City Vegas to square-off against the show's two polar opposite antagonists...

Besides Falconetti is an extremely callous yet still somewhat charming/monopolizing billionaire Peter Haskell as Charles Estep, who Strauss's Rudy is after and whose wife, the beautiful Laraine Stephens, holds a game-changing secret...

But the most fun's had with Billy and his up-and-down dealings running then co-owning a once-great record company (owned by endearingly grouchy gambler Sorrell Booke); he basically sells his soul to protect a fickle and spoiled, knockout version of Janis Joplin in Cassie Yates, taking the otherwise womanizer on a proverbial ride...

Meanwhile, William Smith's powerfully methodical method-acting is what really stands out, shaking the dust off particular moments where the original series' edgy (semi-historical) drama becomes kitschy melodrama; he's busy too, fighting off Nolte's vengeful partner Herbert Jefferson Jr., and, also returning is Kay Lenz, Nolte's sexy little widow, this time a goofy/silly laughing girl in a contrived affair with Strauss...

And yet, despite the soap operatic tropes and romantic distractions, like any good televised serial, the characters and situations leave viewers salivating for the next episode... while Peter Strauss is even more intense and dogged, likable, sympathetic and hardcore in the leading role (providing more than a few fantastic monologue-lectures)... making both RICH MAN, POOR MAN shows a "binge-watch" experience far before there was such a thing.

Really stolid potboiler, scene chewing sessions abound. The ONLY thing that set with apart from other 70's dross in the final episodes was the interaction between Nolte and Bill Smith's Falconetti, one of the great TV villains ever.

I enjoyed book II because it showed how the family after many year's of fighting and being bitter towards each they finally realized by sticking together they could accomplish so many more things in life. I also liked how Rudy became some what of a father figure for Wesley and Billy. He tried to show them just how important family really is and being bitter about things in their life does not have to continue you have to except the past and learn from it.Once the boy's saw how Rudy was alway's there for them trying to help them learn from their mistakes overcome them with out using their fist help make them better men.He wanted them to overcome their past so they could have a better life.Abuse tore his family apart and knew it had to stop.He also taught them that a good education was very important.I would love to purchase book II to complete the story.

I saw the DVD at my local library, and recalling how I liked the show when I saw it years ago, I checked it out. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing again the first part of the series. The characters were well played, believable and interesting, as was the plot. However, the second part was a disappointment. The writing seemed stilted, focusing on prurient and unlikely sexual encounters to the detriment of continuation of the story. It seemed that the supposedly upright and principled male characters lost all self control when it came to dealing with women. They had to have 'it'. I don't watch the Soaps, but I think this segment was pretty much written with that venue in mind. Too bad.