My Father My Don (Short)
“My Father My Don” isn’t your typical gangster film. Yes, it has a lot of the trappings of the genre, including first-person narration and flashbacks of violent times, but that’s all that really puts this in with your average gangland movie. The film tells the true story of Tony Napoli (Johnny Thurzday), an enforcer for the family in charge of the largest gambling ring in America for 40 years. When we first meet him, he comes home to find his daughter has been sexually assaulted on her campus. Angry, he finds the culprit and attacks him, which lands Tony in trouble with the law, and because he had been drinking, and forces him into AA. It’s in a meeting where we hear the story of his father (who was a bootlegger back in the day), and how he found his way into the family business, and where he is today.
The story, and the way it is told through the voice of it’s subject (based on his actual book, Tony is a producer on the film), is the star of this film, and even if the production values aren’t that great (it feels, a lot of the time, like it is an amateur production playing gangsters rather than a professional production), that truth elevates the film in ways a lesser film wouldn’t be capable of. This is a poignant, emotional look at the burdens sons have in following in their father’s footsteps, and the ways that can cause issues, and that comes through effortlessly, despite whatever flaws the rest of the film has. That makes it a worthy entry in an iconic genre, and well worth watching if you’re a fan of that genre.
