Taylor Sheridan
Tulsa King

Sylvester Enzio Stallone, known as "Sly," is for all of us John Rambo and Rocky Balboa, he is Robert Hatch in "Escape to Victory" but also Lieutenant Cobretti. He is Gabriel "Gabe" Walker on the heights of Italy in "Cliffhanger" and he is also Barney Ross in "The Expendables".

And now he is Dwight Manfredi, the King of Tulsa.

After being rejected during the auditions for "The Godfather", the good old Enzio must have felt over the moon upon being cast as a tough, albeit "mature," mob boss abroad. How proud he must have felt to be the lead of the flagship series for the launch of the streaming platform "Paramount+".

Born in a charity hospital in Hell’s Kitchen, a neighborhood in Manhattan near the 34^th street (the one of the Miracle, ed.), Sylvester had a life far from easy from a young age. The son of an Italian immigrant barber of Apulian origin and an American astrologer, little Stallone got slapped by life right from birth, when the forceps cut a facial nerve, permanently blocking the mobility of the left side of his face. Then came rickets during adolescence, his parents' separation due to his mother's serious alcoholism issues, life with a strict father in Maryland, and back once again with his mother, this time in Rocky’s city, leading young Sylvester to embrace a bit of optimism and a new outlook on his life. Football and fencing, graduation, then the scholarship used for the American school in Switzerland, would be the crossroads to the world of acting. After dropping out of drama school halfway through, Stallone began seriously contemplating the idea of becoming an actor. Thus, he returned to New York, sustaining himself with humble and occasional jobs, finding himself at one point in such difficulty that he had to live on the streets.

After a quiet start and a "Forbidden Porno", his career kicks off. To date, Mr. Stallone has seventy films under his belt, a rich handful of TV appearances, and a star on the Walk of Fame.

But on to Tulsa King. Dwight Manfredi is released from the federal prison where he’s been locked up for a quarter of a century, serving a sentence in total silence, shouldering the blame for his Godfather and the family he’s always been part of. After twenty-five years, the air outside the cell smells different, cash is no longer in use, phones aren’t just for calling anymore, and taxis are booked with an app. But that's the romantic side of the story. The harder pill to swallow relates to the "family," which has forgotten Dwight and his honor and respect. There’s no longer a place for him in New York. The only alternative to the lights and noise of the Big Apple is the dust and smell of cattle in the state of Oklahoma. Once he digests the affront and dissipates his anger, the brave Manfredi hops on a plane bound for Tulsa.

Among motels, broken roads, and pork ribs, it's hard to find fertile ground to build a thriving criminal empire. But the "General" Dwight Manfredi has never given up and doesn’t intend to start now. By ensnaring the owner of a modest marijuana outlet, the calm and irreverent Bodhi, and hiring the young and faithful Tyson as his all-purpose driver, Dwight will lay the foundation of the new criminal family and his small empire. Difficulties and antagonists won’t be lacking, among them a dangerous, relentless local gang, and the government, through the work of the ATF, won’t relent the grip on the Italo-American felon venturing from the state of New York. The past also has its say, showcasing the usual lack of gratitude.

Stallone proves to still be in splendid shape with his seventy-six springs behind him and fits perfectly and comfortably in the elegant outfit of the humor-filled gangster. Because Dwight Manfredi does everything with a smile, and even in situations requiring coldness and determination, he never omits a small, humor-tinged parenthesis. He’s a character one grows attached to, empathizes with, and ultimately roots and sympathizes for. Being well aware of what we are witnessing and able to distinguish between reality and fiction. Because getting passionate about the small and big screen mafia for some is too often synonymous with a lack of caution in managing a dangerous figure that needs to be exorcised. Manfredi has a daughter and two grandchildren, a past as a "respectable" criminal, and a future as ambitious that’s equally criminal, which above all is an unknown and heaven forbid it wasn't because a second season is already anticipated.

The episodes of this first season are nine and at least half of them keep attention, interest, and fun high, only to decline as we approach the end. A decline facilitated by the lack of creativity in the plot development and the monotony of some situations. Among the pros, we have Stallone in his usual great shape, a character as fun as he is charismatic, and capable sidekicks who are absolutely suited to interpret the grotesque side of the story. Among the cons, we have a pace at times too slow and dialogues that are lengthy and pointless, inevitably stripping the narration of its appeal, thereby leaving us with "only" the urge to look for Dwight Manfredi in the next frame.

In its own way, "Tulsa King" is a valid and ambitious project yet also egocentric and ultimately already stunted at the end of its debut season.

Being undecided about whether to renew or not the subscription to the streaming platform that broadcasts this TV series, in anticipation of new episodes, is undoubtedly the most immediate answer to our questions. Certainly, if I were to do so, it would be just to see the mythical half-smile of Sylvester Stallone again.