Entertaining but overly long, this could have clocked in at two hours and got everything out of needed, or felt that it could tell. But they decide to go for a "Godfather" like epic, and in spite about being a saga about one of the five families, the writers went out of their way to create a "Godfather" saga, allegedly the real deal. At least with the supervision of the real Bill Bonanno, he didn't hide certain elements of his part such as his violence towards wife Rosalie (Nancy McKeon) and his infidelity. Efforts to eliminate certain elements of crime out of the family creates a mob war, government investigations and much unhappiness for Rosalie.
A very good Eric Roberts creates an interesting portrayal of the educated Bill Bonanno, and Ben Gazzara is excellent as his father who spends a lot of time in hiding. It's amusing when he points out the incorrect spelling of the family name at his son's wedding dinner, like they'd never seen the correct spelling in the New York newspapers. Rosalie's mother, herself a mafia widow, points out to her daughter when she's told about Bill's infidelity that Sicilian women are like dogs. Sonetimes you don't end up with a good master, a pretty sad point of view from an exhausted woman who has seen it all obviously more than once.
Coming out at a period of time where the studios once again were making lots of mafia related films, this two part TV movie is no better or worse than any mafia movie ever made. It just utilizes real names. The families are presented as devoted, well as devoted as any cheating husband can be. Rosalie, as played by McKeon (one of the best TV movie vets of the past 40 years), isn't one of her stronger parts, standing up here and there to her sometimes brutal husband, forced to accept everything even though she hates it. In expressing the sadness and fragility of this character, she is excellent. Just a look from her without words makes hubby Roberts angry because his guilt can't handle it. It's these little elements that aides this from becoming just another mafia soap opera.
A very good Eric Roberts creates an interesting portrayal of the educated Bill Bonanno, and Ben Gazzara is excellent as his father who spends a lot of time in hiding. It's amusing when he points out the incorrect spelling of the family name at his son's wedding dinner, like they'd never seen the correct spelling in the New York newspapers. Rosalie's mother, herself a mafia widow, points out to her daughter when she's told about Bill's infidelity that Sicilian women are like dogs. Sonetimes you don't end up with a good master, a pretty sad point of view from an exhausted woman who has seen it all obviously more than once.
Coming out at a period of time where the studios once again were making lots of mafia related films, this two part TV movie is no better or worse than any mafia movie ever made. It just utilizes real names. The families are presented as devoted, well as devoted as any cheating husband can be. Rosalie, as played by McKeon (one of the best TV movie vets of the past 40 years), isn't one of her stronger parts, standing up here and there to her sometimes brutal husband, forced to accept everything even though she hates it. In expressing the sadness and fragility of this character, she is excellent. Just a look from her without words makes hubby Roberts angry because his guilt can't handle it. It's these little elements that aides this from becoming just another mafia soap opera.