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Paramount+ has released a live-action series about a New York mobster who gets out of prison after 25 years and goes to Tulsa, Oklahoma. This is Stallone's first starring role in the series after 80 films in his career and it would be a shame to miss it.
There is hardly a greater movie righteous and hero than Sylvester Stallone, the 75-year-old icon of Hollywood who has left us in awe since "Rocky". However, things have changed radically. The promotional tagline of the movie "Cobra" described its main character as a "Strict Hand of the Law", but Sly is now on the other side of the law and after a fifty-year career in Hollywood is quite shocked to work in television production.
In the seventies, he appeared as a guest in "Kojak", but also in "Las Vegas". Paramount's latest foray into serial programming is titled "Tulsa King." Sly is holding up well but says television is so demanding that he now sees filmmaking as a vacation.
The American actor still charmingly delivers lines through his distinctive lips and takes us into the world of the mafia. And that in the Italian way, the way the world of film and television shined thanks to all those famous villains who trade in influence, fear, and illegal goods.
From "The Godfather" to "The Sopranos". Because the Emmy-winning producer and screenwriter Terence Winter ("The Sopranos", "Boardwalk Empire") is now in the role of showrunner.
Italians do it best
Hardened mobster Dwight "The General" Manfredi (Sylvester Stallone) is similar to Sly in many ways.
He is alienated from the modern world and ironic, which is understandable since the General has served time in prison. Makon has been released from prison for 25 years, which is a very long period, so Dwight has learned some life lessons that leave him cold and his view of the world somewhat cynical.
On the day of his release from prison, he looks back on his life. At the age of 17, his father asked him what he wanted to be in life. The hairdresser answered with a sneer, but actually, he always wanted to be a gangster. The general wonders if it was worth it.
It's not. Not even 25 seconds. What all ex-convicts experience after leaving prison is that life outside is just as cruel as life inside. The boss gives him a new assignment, and that is to move to Tulsa to form an "expository" of their criminal organization.
However, Manfredi realizes that the mafia family has completely different expectations of him, which are hidden and not in his best interest. He decides to become independent and create his own criminal empire and slowly forms a team from a group of unusual characters.
They will help him establish a business in a place that is so foreign to him that he feels like he is on another planet. The crime drama "Tulsa King", for those who mean something, has a high rating on IMDB, even 8.4, and it was created by the extremely successful creator of the series Taylor Sheridan, who is remembered for the hits "Yellowstone", "Mayor of Kingstown" and "1883".
It's visually enticing, and you won't be able to take your eyes off Sly, as this role integrates all the appealing characters he's played so far. The credits music plays with the famous theme from the western "The Good, the Bad, the Evil" as Manfredi goes to the "wild west".
The series introduces us to the always attractive world of the mafia, where no one is immune to fights and punches below the belt. Some things never change. Once a mobster, always a mobster. And when a very long time passes, when everyone pays with cards while some prefer cash, the old fox will again show his talent for shady business on the other side of the law.
Or as the promotional tagline of the Paramount series says... A true gangster. New city.