Mangini had a cameo role in an episode of the mob drama The Sopranos.

You can't just call it a mob drama.

Thanks to "The Godfather," "GoodFellas," "The Sopranos" and their countless imitations, the characters in contemporary mob dramas are now such beloved clichés that they are almost like family.

The comedies, such as Prizzi's Honor and Analyze This , are meant to cut through the globby schmaltz of mob drama by showing us wise guys as goofballs.

In the 50th and final instalment of our writers' favourite films series, Jason Deans plumps for a prohibition-era mob drama from the Coen brothers Continue reading...

The mob drama began its fourth season on Sept. 15 and will be eligible for Emmy Awards next year.

That film, a bloody Irish mob drama with a scene-chewing performance by Jack Nicholson and a cast of younger stars, has been more like a blockbuster success, taking in $121 million in this country and about as much again overseas.

Next Previous Blog home In the 50th and final instalment of our writers' favourite films series, Jason Deans plumps for a prohibition-era mob drama from the Coen brothers Smart guy, huh?

He currently resides in Santa Monica, California, where he is developing a new mob drama, 'The Vindicator'.

If that cult show was a Pacific Northwest riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma, "The Sopranos" is a suburban comedy wrapped in a mob drama inside a cannoli.