James Gandolfini: More than a Mobster
James Gandolfini may be best remembered for The Sopranos, but in TVWW's tribute to the late actor, David Bianculli recalls a project that's not to be missed by those seeking insight into Gandolfini, the man: "The most effusive and outgoing I ever saw him was during a group interview for Alive Day Memories: Home from Iraq, the 2007 HBO documentary for which he served as an executive producer and host. He insisted the spotlight be on the veterans to whom he was speaking in the film — and as long as reporters respected that, Gandolfini was talkative, candid, and charmingly humble. ... Alive Day Memories shows Gandolfini without a script, engaging with traumatized and wounded war veterans and using his celebrity to get them to open up — and making the conversation all about them. In so doing, he also reveals more of himself than in probably any other role or interview captured on film."