For the price: a perfectly acceptable product. It certainly meets my needs.
06 Dec, 2011
Just excellent!
Undoubtedly one of the most thoughtful commentaries on US society ever written for TV. The Sopranos is an exemplar of the modern trend for a fine combination of the comic and the dramatic in fictional depiction. The standard of the performances of the entire cast matches equally the demands made upon them by the script writers.
This is not a series which flags at any point, as '24' and 'The West Wing' both did. I reserve particular praise for the lead actor who played Tony Soprano. The growing sense of psychological conflict and constriction at a profound level in this character's psyche was beautifully written, and beautifully portrayed. Even though this character asserts the right to determine whether others live or die, and sometimes for very selfish reasons, one still finds it hard to hate or dislike him. This is a very, very complex depiction of a human being, and the real interest to the viewer originates in the conceit that, even though this drama is about the US mafia, nevertheless there are similarities between this person, and all other middle-aged men in the developed world.
I did not stop turning on to 'The Sopranos' every time I switched on my TV set, and this series repays a second viewing because that is just how thoughtful and sophisticated the plot-lines and the scripts are.
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