comment #1

p.Vice says ...

Sounds like most teenagers I've spoken to in the past few years.

comment #2

Rich S. says ...

This is one of the reasons I've always loved Hans Gruber and his crew in Die Hard. Not only were they meticulous in their preparations for the heist itself, they had a plan for getting away with it and retiring. They were supposed to wind up "sitting on a beach earning 20 percent" or something to that effect. Refreshing.

comment #3

JVD says ...

Jeff, I know you feel it's a closed case that Tony Soprano bit it in the final scene at that diner (I remain unconvinced), but I do have to disagree that he didn't prepare for the future. Throughout the show he talks about having money socked away in overseas accounts and we've seen the sacks of cash scattered all throughout his house for a rainy day. Hell, he was laundering and storing his money with the Russians in Season 3. There was going to be no welfare need for Carmella on the day Tony was sent up the river or to the embalming table. Tony Soprano was a lot smarter than Dillinger, but still too stupid to walk away and enjoy his ill-gotten gains while he could.

comment #4

mccool says ...

It's the same concept with successful entrepreneurs and business people. Ordinary folks look at them and question why they continue to work after so much achievement, saying things like "if I had that much money I'd retire," failing to realize its the incredible drive and ambition that helped make people a success, a drive and ambition that can't be turned off with the flip of a switch. You either get that or you don't, and if you don't you'll never likely be a hugely successful person, or at least, not someone who makes a real impact in this world. It's not about the money, but the success and the work to get there, making a difference, etc, etc, not about sitting on your ass and reminiscing about the glory days. I'd imagine it was much the same with Dillinger, et al. As Tom Sizemore said in 'Heat' "The action is the juice."

comment #5

mccool says ...

And Tony bit it in the end. No doubt in my mind. The pacing and framework of the scene make it quite clear. Chime, Tony's POV=Customer. Chime, Tony's POV=Customer. Chime, Tony's POV=Customer. Chime, Tony's POV=Blackness.

comment #6

MilkMan says ...

One of the key tropes of psychopathology is a focus and obsession on short-term gratification. Psychopaths know that they are not going to live long, so they don't worry about what is going to happen in the future.

comment #7

Bob Roberts 1 says ...

I cannot help but see the parallels between this and Heat. DeNiro, who planned everything to a T, brought down by not following his plans one time. I am wondering if Christian Bale's character is the DeNiro mirror and Johnny Depp is the Pacino mirror (all instinct, unable to maintain relationships, etc)

comment #8

George Prager says ...

The business majors in my college dorm were some of the most boring people i have ever met.

comment #9

mccool says ...

talking highly-successful people, prager, not your rank and file mba's ... ceo's, founders, captains of industry, creators of innovation and industry (those that weren't born into it, anyway)

comment #10

BoshBarnetWonkyDonkey says ...

mccool - I agree to an extent, but I also think a big reason a lot of these wealthy businessmen don't retire is that they're so obsessed with work that they're incredibly boring people, and so they can't think of anything to do during retirement that doesn't involve the office life. A lot of these business types' only hobby is golf, and half the time they play that it's with clients or business associates.

There's also a level of egotism to it. It's the same reason sports stars will reject an incredibly lucrative contract and move to another team to get an even more lucrative contract. They don't need the money, they just like to see how highly they're valued by other people.

comment #11

bmcintire says ...

And even when they do prepare for their (and their children's) future, their grotesque New Jersey palaces still get forclosed on when the Swarovski and NaturaTan bills can no longer be paid.

comment #12

High Chaparral says ...

Just imagine how much research Mann has done for this.

Just imagine what a "Mann Archives" collection, in the style of the Kubrick one, would be like.

comment #13

WilliamShake2 says ...

I'm not sure if many of you have seen this but it's a great piece of writing that puts the final nail in Tony Soprano's coffin. Richard Belzer, of all people, actually got an answer out of David Chase where he clearly implies that Tony died. Fess up Jeff; you read this!

http://masterofsopranos.wordpress.com/the-sopranos-definitive-explanation-of-the-end/

comment #14

COCO says ...

Time moved slower....

"a minute and a half...flat"

comment #15

Griff says ...

The book the film is based on was pretty compelling as well. The FBI was getting the crap shot out of it for a while...