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We are listening to Waypoint Radio and we have a slightly different show for you here today because as you may have seen toward the end of last week, actor James Con passed away and it seemed appropriate to release the Waypoint Plus episode we did on what might have been his best work as an actor, Michael Mann's Theefe.

You'll hear us make our case for Theefe here in a little bit which is also a movie that keeps rising in my estimation of Mann's works.

But I think it's also a movie that encapsulates a lot of what made James Con distinct as an actor and a lot of his other landmark works.

It's a different facet of a performer that I think split the difference between movie star and tough guy character actor better than a lot of people have managed.

I'm your host, Rob Zachini obviously and for this I'm joined by next time is Alex Navarro and Alex I think the place to start with Con is probably the role of the typecast sim out of the gate.

You know, Sunny Corleone, what sort of gives us the archetypal James Con character.

Yeah, I mean that's that's that is the persona of Con. Is it not? It is a guy who is in a lot of ways kind of a regular guy, but you know in some ways is also very powerful has a real commanding presence whenever he is around.

He's sort of he can be gregarious, but he can also be just like ice fucking cold when he needs to be.

And you know, I mean, Sunny Corleone is probably I mean apart from his death scene, which is obviously legendary.

I mean, I he's probably like what number two number three overall in the godfather series in terms of like memorable characters and cons a big part of why that is like it's just the thing about James Con is that even when he's acting you still feel like you are watching James Con.

And I mean that in the most like complimentary way possible.

Yeah, I think it's it's kind of amazing how large he looms in the godfather given that really he doesn't make it out of the first half of the first film.

Yeah, but before before being ambushed.

I think one of the things that really drives home for me though.

I think his performance is one of those things that is so well executed that it enriches every other performance and character.

The sort of shares the screen, but particularly Michael Corleone, opportunities Michael Corleone.

And I think that really gets driven home. He only has the one scene in the godfather to right the godfather to sort of loops back at the end.

And then he's barely in it to this like family this Christmas dinner basically before Michael's about to he decided to join the Marines to go out to fight World War two.

And it's seen where he announces that decision to the family and obviously like back at this point in time, sunny Corleone is alive.

And James Con is the one sort of confront him as the you know in the absence of you know, Vito Corleone is off loose off screen at that point.

You can sort of see both the mix of I think there's a version of character that's played as just all like psychotic tough guy.

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