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S01.E03: La Dolce Vita


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I liked this episode.  It answered some of the questions that I had from earlier episodes. It explained the fake kidnapping idea (it explained Paul being so happy at the bar and why he seemed to be expecting the kidnapping at the fountain), the girls shooting up the apartment, Paul running through the sunflowers, the restaurant owner's involvement, etc.  

It was also interesting to find out that Paul's friends actually ran up the debt, telling everyone that 'Getty would pay'.  

I had to laugh at Paul's attempt to get rid of his boredom by giving a shadow puppet show to the guard (and the guard wearing the newspaper hat).  

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(edited)

Much of this episode just seemed so fake to me. Scenes with the young grandson seemed like they were told to act really out there, like you are really being wild and having a grand time.  So over the top. To me it was like let's really pretend we are living the good life (La Dolce Vita).  Almost like scenes from The Monkeys tv series (196-1968). There was one robbery scene (people tied up) that was pretty believable. To me the music is the most appealing thing about it. 

Edited by SunnyBeBe
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I too liked this episode for answering the questions of how the kidnapping came together. There are still a couple of dangling threads but for the most part I have a better idea of where we are.

One thing I didn't like was the twins making out with each other, because I think the actresses are twins in real life (they have the same last name) and that's just yuck. 

Dolce is so cute! I hope he found a good owner now that his is, uh, no more.

JP3 crapping in the bucket didn't bother me, but having to share the cramped trunk with two corpses definitely did.

Also, what shitty friends. Running up debts with promises that "Getty will pay." I would have flashed them the deuces, found somewhere else to crash, and let them clean up their own mess.

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I hope they return to Sutherland & Co. soon, as this crowd just seemed to me to be part of one of those impenetrable Italian art house movies.

The restaurant owner's partner must have watched too much American tv (snark), because he immediately went for the standard tv trope of driving straight down the narrow road while someone is shooting at you.  If I had been in his shoes, as soon as the other guy took a bullet I would have been zig zagging through that flower field and doing anything I could to stir up dust or something.  And then bail out of that car.

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So I'm confused now. In episode 2, we saw Brendan Fraser offer the Restaurant Guy a briefcase full of money. This was after Paul was "kidnapped" by him. So why did Restaurant Guy return it? Wasn't that the goal? (Did the movie have that same scene? What am I missing here?)

Also, if Paul and Restaurant Guy agreed for Paul to be kidnapped on Saturday, why did Paul leave a ransom note on Thursday?

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I think I'm in the minority, but I love this show. Something about being young and dumb and naive makes me whimsical for that time in my life. Of course, I never faked my own kidnapping, but the time in your life when you live for the moment comes and goes very quickly, so says the now parent/government employee!

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3 hours ago, TVismydrug said:

Something about being young and dumb and naive makes me whimsical for that time in my life.

I don't know you, but I doubt you were ever this naive. I can't imagine it of anyone.

This situation makes me think of The Crown and what a jerk Prince Philip seems like for forcing his sons to go to the Gordonstoun school to toughen them up. It was obviously a terrible decision, but when I look at the opposite end of the spectrum with a sixteen year old rich kid like Getty with no constraints, not going to school at all, hanging out with leeches, and doing dangerously stupid things because he expects to inherit anyway, I can understand why a wealthy family may find a strict structure necessary. 

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38 minutes ago, 7-Zark-7 said:

Something about being young and dumb and naive makes me whimsical for that time in my life.

I wasn't THAT dumb either, but I think I understand what was meant. (Plus, without a billionaire grandfather, I wouldn't have thought of faking my kidnapping for the huge ransom.)

I am enjoying the series very much, except for as posted above about why Restaurant Guy didn't take the money from Chase. I hope it is explained why he instead sold Paul over to Bad Killer Guy for what looked like far less. If TPTB just threw that Chase offer in for the looks of it, then they didn't think it through very well.

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I think the show is interesting, and I like the weird film style and anachronistic order. Of course, all the feelings that it gives of classic Italian art house movies appeals to me, so it could just be to my taste. Of course, if they really wanted to do Italian art house, this would be in black and white, and have several fantasy dance sequences. It also gave me more of a view of Paul, and how he ended up in this mess of a situation. My read on Paul is that he isnt an awful person or anything, but very young, short sighted, hedonistic and fully immersed in Id. I dont think he has much in the way of parenting. His dad doesn't seem to be a part of his life, his step dad hates him, and his mom seems to let him get away with anything. I doubt he thought much about what a mess this fake kidnapping could become, and how it would affect his poor mom, he just saw a problem, and tried to come up with some way to quickly solve it. 

I did feel bad for him when he realized that his so called friends were all using him. That really sucks. 

I hope someone adopts poor cute little Dolce. That painting of the dog was actually pretty good. 

The pooping was certainly gross, but I was much more grossed out by Paul getting stuffed into the trunk with the dead cafe owner. Nasty.

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I had the fleeting impression, during the underground meeting with Chase and the crooks, that they were from the local Mafia and they wanted nothing to do with the kidnapping, just for self security issues. Maybe the restaurant owner then moved on the 'Ndrangheta for the actual kidnapping. 

Reading the Wiki article on it, I had no idea that Balthazar Getty of Brothers and Sisters fame was JP3's son.

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3 hours ago, Dowel Jones said:

Reading the Wiki article on it, I had no idea that Balthazar Getty of Brothers and Sisters fame was JP3's son.

Yup, I remembered learning that when Lord of the Flies came out because the press made a huge deal about it.

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On 4/10/2018 at 10:45 PM, Emmeline said:

Thanks, I enjoyed the Vanity Fair article.  In that article they reference an interview Paul Getty III did with Rolling Stone shortly after he was freed from the kidnapers.  I lost most of my sympathy for him after reading it.  In my opinion he comes off as a jerk.

That's interesting because I really don't see that at all I the article I read.  He seems pragmatic and his life was pretty traffic to me.

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Hmm, so this version is going with the idea that Paul initially stage the kidnapping, but after J. Paul refuse to pay that ransom, it all fell apart.  I'm still a bit confused, but it looked like Bertolini/restaurant owner basically tried to recoup his loss, by then selling J. Paul to this Primo dude, but then that went south after he pitched a fit and pulled a gun on Primo, who is clearly the last person to do that too.  So, now poor Paul is on his own!  I do hope someone adopts poor Dolce!

Paul really did have some crappy friends, though.  And even after everything, he still wanted to marry Martine.  Oh, Paul!

I did get a kick out of Paul and his guard bonding over shadow puppets!

The pooping stuff was a bit much, but again, that is another staple of Danny Boyle.  Dude's talented as hell, but definitely a bit weird!

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14 hours ago, thuganomics85 said:

Hmm, so this version is going with the idea that Paul initially stage the kidnapping, but after J. Paul refuse to pay that ransom, it all fell apart. 

But Chase came to Rome and offered Bertolini a whole briefcase of cash! Something doesn't make sense here.

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