The mafia still exists, but unlike the days of Meyer Lansky, it doesn’t operate as openly as it once did. In fact, the mafia is what a lot of people would call a shadow of its former self, but poking the bear to see if it can still growl would probably be a mistake. That’s the kind of feeling that Lansky gives as Harvey Keitel gets into character and reminds Sam Worthington’s character that anything they talk about concerning his past has to be approved before it can be put into a book and published. The serious tone that’s taken in the scene makes it clear or should make it clear, that Meyer Lansky was not a man to be taken lightly at any time, even as an old man. Lansky passed away in the early 80s, and up until that time, he’d been living peacefully in Florida. But it’s fair to think that he still had plenty of pull when it came to taking care of any overt problems that he couldn’t handle alone. The mafia stories we see in the movies and on TV are usually glamorized beyond all reckoning, but at the core, there’s something real that drives them, tales that based on the real events that happened back in the day. What a person can believe and what they choose to believe about those that were a part of the Italian-American mafia can be more than a little different, but the fact is that the mafia did exist, it still does exist, and whether it’s as weak as people have been told or not is hard to gauge. But Lansky was one of the OG’s from back in the day, a guy that built himself up along with his buddies, and someone that knew that life could be unbearably hard if one allowed it to be.
Reading about Meyer Lansky might pull a low and appreciative whistle from a lot of people since this guy didn’t muck about, and even when he was older and couldn’t do as much, he still wasn’t the type of guy to test since respect went a long way in the mafia and in some ways it still does. Being afraid of the mafia these days sounds silly to a lot of people but it’s largely because the mafia can’t get away with as much thanks to the advancements in society, criminology, and the fact that they don’t have the same type of power that they once had. In the days of Meyer Lansky and many other known criminals, the world was a different place. One couldn’t rely on video footage to give the details of a crime, and eyewitness accounts were usually one of the worst ways to gain information, even if they were one of the only ways. Back in those days the mafia could come and go as they pleased since it’s often stated that the mafia had various police precincts on the payroll and had substantial numbers of people working for them, performing a wide number of tasks.
After taking a look at the trailer this feels like a movie that could be worth sitting down for and enjoying since a good mobster flick is something that gets the inspiration flowing at times and can bring on a great number of creative ideas that might turn into something. Plus, Harvey Keitel and Sam Worthington are both great actors in their own way and tend to put in a very convincing performance. It’s fair to think that any reporter that might have talked to a former mafia member might have realized that they were taking their own life into their hands since even the idea of it would make folks shudder a bit.
There are definitely some folks out there that would scoff and say that anything even close to the mafia is nothing to worry about, but one might also think that said talkers might live in areas where there isn’t a big mafia presence, if there ever was, since what’s been stated is that the mafia that does currently exist tends to stick to certain locations, such as the northeastern part of the country and the midwest. But worrying if the mafia is going to come back isn’t a huge concern at this moment. Lansky looks like the type of movie that’s bound to remind us that at one time the mafia was in fact a huge and powerful organization that allowed those within it to do pretty much whatever they wanted until it was time to realize that their power was broken, their influence was gone, and what had once been one of the most powerful crime syndicates in the world was no longer effective. However much we do or don’t believe the written history of the mafia, the movies are still entertaining.
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