“The Sopranos”Sundays at 9 on HBO
YOU think you’re caught in a mid-life funk between job insecurity and family crises?
At least you ain’t Tony Soprano.
Oh, sure, on the surface, he seems to have everything. Big home in New Jersey. Nice car. The wife and two kids.
And a job that supports this American-dream style without chaining him to a desk.
But you couldn’t walk a mile in Tony’s cement-spattered shoes.
He’s got family problems coming and going.
He’s a mob boss when that was what it used to be.
Then there’s his other family! Sheesh! A wife who forgives but never forgets his transgressions. A daughter at adolescent war with her mother. A son getting Bart Simpson grades.
And a riotously vicious mother who should give frequent-flyer miles with all her guilt trips.
No wonder Tony (James Gandolfini) hangs out with the geese in his pool and then has a panic attack when they head north.
Tony can order a hit without breaking a sweat, but wait ’til he walks into the office of Dr. Jennifer Melfi (Lorraine Bracco) and must decide which of the two chairs to sit in. And worry about how the attractive shrink will interpret his choice.
So begins “The Sopranos,” 13 one-hour shows from David Chase (“Northern Exposure”).
Though it doesn’t take violence, profanity, sex, crudity and ethnic-baiting as far as HBO stablemate “Oz,” it is neither easily quoted nor adequately described in polite company.
It occasionally lumbers under the weight of its riches – but that’s a luxury HBO can afford.
It is also something fans of terrific acting, vivid dialogue and ironic context will gladly endure.
Gandolfini joins the club of character actors who become sought-after leading men with his subtle, Emmy-worthy portrait of Tony, who learns to love Prozac but still fears the consequences if the wrong people learn he’s in therapy.
Nancy Marchand is a shoe-in for an Emmy as Tony’s mother Livia.
Edie Falco (“Oz”) as Tony’s wife Carmela, is immensely helpful in establishing the conflict between the family of goombas and the family that could be living right next door to many of us.
“The Sopranos” can’t make us forget “The Godfather” and “GoodFellas,” so it doesn’t try.
“The Godfather” trilogy will be summarily critiqued. One of Tony’s made men will mimic Al Pacino’s cry about how “they pull me back in.” Martin Scorsese will get a cameo.
Tony will fret that his nephew Christopher (Michael Imperioli) is going to pull a Henry Hill by turning informant and/or movie subject.
And viewers who are torn between “The X-Files” and “The Sopranos” will be happy to know that each episode of “Sopranos” repeats at 11 p.m. Tuesdays.