Michael Imperioli: "The Sopranos"

Jessica Lange has said, when she takes on a new role, she makes time to watch old Kim Stanley films. She does this to remind herself that great acting is undeniable; worthwhile acting is a way of tapping into a universal human truth. A strong performance is evergreen; it's unassailable, year after year after year.

"The Sopranos" is the mesmerizing story of Tony--but, also, it's the story of Christopher.

If a less skilled actor had landed the Christopher role, it's possible fewer scripts would have dug into the Moltisanti story. (For a long while, David Chase had no real plan beyond Season One.) But Michael Imperioli is very good; I think he is as compelling as James Gandolfini.

Imperioli wins his Emmy in Season Five; in Season Six "A," he is the one and only cast member (one set apart from Gandolfini, Falco, Bracco, etc.) to earn an Emmy nomination. All this time, Imperioli struggles with addiction; it's easy to imagine that the pain he explores on-camera is somehow "bleeding into" his own personal life.

Christopher's tragedy is that he is an artist; he has spectacular acting talent. His film script, "Cleaver," is clearly bad--but, also, it's a viable film script. It leads to a film. Christopher--who has very little education and cannot spell most polysyllabic words--does pull himself together to the extent that he can make a movie.

In a great penultimate scene, Christopher pays a visit to a literary colleague, J.T. Dolan. Ostensibly, he is seeking help for a relapse. But--really--Christopher seems to be making a final effort to reconnect with the life he "should" have. J.T. Dolan has artistic success, and he has kicked his addiction. He seems to have moved past his "criminal" phase. Christopher has an impossible, unarticulated request: Make my life more like yours. When Dolan is impatient and even contemptuous, he seals his own fate. He is a goner. Agitated, Christopher decides he has had enough of Dolan; he takes out a gun and commits his last murder.

Christopher's final "domestic" scene involves a planting. Having stumbled home, Chris notes that a little tree is askew; a mob rival has ruined the tree. As Chris pitifully attempts to cope with the wreckage, we fade to black. The tree evokes thoughts of Christopher's marriage; grasping at straws, Chris has agreed to be a family man (but, he concedes, he doesn't care about his wife, and he has no interest in fatherhood). The tree is important because Christopher never, never ends his internal war; as bad as things get, he (foolishly) keeps lying to himself. He tells himself that there is still a way to "course-correct."

I really love Imperioli in this role; he reminds me of certain real people I've met. (I mean this as a high compliment.) I think the series doesn't fully recover after Christopher is written out of the scripts.

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