MovieChat Forums > Boardwalk Empire (2010) Discussion > How Powerful Was Arnold Rothstein?

How Powerful Was Arnold Rothstein?

posted 9 years ago by XFiles25
5 replies | jump to latest

He was my favourite character.

My favourite scene is where he tells the story of how he made a guy choke to death because the guy could swallow billiard balls, Rothstein gave him the cue ball which was slightly bigger than tbe others and the guy choked on it.

I think he is more menacing than Nucky really

[–] sfarkus 9 years ago

Oh yes very menacing and superbly acted.

[–] jerseysprung 9 years ago

Rothstein was my favorite character too. He was so calm, cool, and cold. Plus smart. Very well acted.

Lot of the gangsters in these series are hot head cursing types, which made Rothstein's character more refreshing. I thought when Rothstein and Luciano were paired up together in scenes, that made for excellent TV. Luciano was the aggressive type, and Rothstein far more calculating.

I never thought of Nucky as really that menacing though. Probably because Steve Buscemi looks more frail and sad than menacing.

I actually enjoyed the surrounding characters more than the main one (nucky). Nucky kept it all together, but i was more interested in the NY crew and even the Chicago crew than Nucky's everyday life.

[–] XFiles25 9 years ago

Well i am only on Season 1 but i agree, I like all the characters but i like AR

Love how he is playing pool while telling the story how he made someone choke to death in a billiard ball, and he sips tea while basically threatening Yale's life.

I dont think the swearing is necassary, I mean The Godfather Part I, not a single word if swearing in it with Brando never swearing.

[–] Little_Korean 8 years ago

I never thought of Nucky as really that menacing though. Probably because Steve Buscemi looks more frail and sad than menacing.

Well, he was only half a gangster, after all. Nucky tended to rely on his political connections and only resorted to the gun, like with Gyp Rosetti if backed into a corner.

As for Rothstein and power, in the show he was more of a typical movie/TV crime lord; in real life, his MO was more fronting the money for young, hungry bootleggers like Luciano and Lansky, and then collecting his end when they delivered. His lawyer described AR as a "grey mouse in a corner, waiting for his cheese."

When darkness overcomes the heart, Lil' Slugger appears...

[–] trolllikecrazy 8 years ago

Arnold Rothstein in real life was very much a Vito Corleone type of gangster. Obviously, his one big weakness was his gambling addiction. Even though he was a millionaire, he still needed to feel that thrill of gambling, he loved to play poker but hated to lose ( which he did, A LOT in the final years of his life ). The fictional character of Nucky Thompson is a retard compared to the real A.R. The show is fiction obviously, that's why Nucky survived the first season.