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John Cazale made our list of 10 best Oscar-snubbed performances | 174534__07godfather_l
TELL-ALL FREDO Cazale (with Pacino) crafted a multidimensional mafioso
The Godfather II: Photofest

Michael got the brains, Sonny got the brawn, but Fredo -- poor, forlorn Fredo -- what did he get? Passed over. With Mike (Al Pacino) now in charge, the middle Mafia child is all impotence. The guy can't even betray right. Pitiable, but Cazale never plays it like that. He's awkward and sweet, and so very mournful of the old days (watch him glow like a sickly moon when he spots a friend from back East). When he finally blurts his reasons for turning on his brother, it's with the resentment of a child. ''I'm not dumb! I'm smart and I want respect!'' he bellows, wobbling helplessly on a patio chair. Thanks to Cazale, who made just six movies, all great, before his death at 42, Fredo got the heart -- and the good and bad that go with it.


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Posted Nov 21, 2002 | Order Article Reprints