Want to understand bad melodrama? Take Mr. Cranky's one-questionquiz:

The head of one of the largest Italian mafia families -- a family comprised of the likes of Don Corleone (Marlon Brando), Tom Hagen (Robert Duvall), Sonny (James Caan) and Michael (Al Pacino) for example -- comes to you and asks for a favor. This favor might be inconvenient, but it's certainly not out of the realm of possibility. Your response is:

A) You agree to do the favor.
B) You negotiate a bit, with the intention of agreeing.
C) You say "I need to think about it" and then don't return any of the Godfather's calls.
D) You spit out your cannoli and call the Godfather or his representative "a stupid !@#$%^ guinea."

Two significant characters in "The Godfather" pick "D": Jack Woltz (John Marley), the film producer who won't give Johnny Fontane (Al Martino) a job, and Moe Greene (Alex Rocco), the Las Vegas casino owner. Without their unbelievable stupidity, "The Godfather" would have been about nothing more than Italian guys sitting around at home.