The Sopranos (TV Series) Big Girls Don't Cry (2000) User Reviews

Giving the beating or taking it?

[snoozejonc · 9/10 · 4 March 2022]

Tony's stress levels are making his anger hard to control, whilst Christopher wrestles with his own emotions.

'Big Girls Don't Cry' is a strong character driven episode with a number of memorable moments.

The plot focuses on Tony, Christopher and Dr Melfi, who are all struggling with various emotional problems and each one is addressed by a number of well written scenes where they interact with other characters.

Tony scenes are a mixture of entertaining outbursts and dark moments that remind you of his vicious nature. They are all memorable and compelling to watch, but easily my favourite involves Janice and Richie. James Gandolfini is great as ever.

Dr Melfi is having issues with the abandonment of her patient and the writers develop the character well in relation to this. You do have to be interested in her emotional hang ups to truly appreciate this aspect of the story, regardless of how well written it is. Peter Bogdanovich is quite amusing in a deadpan way that contrasts Lorraine Bracco's strong emotions.

Christopher's scenes are all excellent and it continues themes explored in 'The Legend of Tennessee Moltisanti' in a more revealing way. His life is portrayed as not going well and when searching for something more it cleverly hints at his frustrations towards certain people. Michael Imperioli is excellent as always, as is Drea de Matteo.

The production values, as ever are outstanding. The two contrasting scenes set in the Bahama Skies tanning salon are exceptionally well made if you can cope with the violence of the second.

Furio comes to visit

[ctomvelu-1 · 8/10 · 4 August 2008]

Furio arrives in the U.S. and joins Tony's crew. Pussy gets bumped aside as Tony promotes Paulie and Sil. Chris goes to an acting class for writers, a gift from Adriana, but gets a little too emotionally immersed doing a scene from REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE. Furio is where the fun is in this episode. He appears to be the sweetest guy on earth, with his big smile, boyish face and ponytail. That is, until Tony sets him loose on a deadbeat. Within the space of about 30 seconds, he has the deadbeat paying up and begging for mercy, something Chris seemed unable to do earlier ih the episode. While all this is going on, Richie begins to play house with old flame Janice, who is looking to take a loan out against Livia's house. The last time we saw Janice, she was opening an $8,000 disability check from the state of California. Tony turns to Hesh for support, only to find out some interesting facts about Tony's father.

I loved the Furio character

[Neptune165 · 7/10 · 8 July 2022]

It's kind of interesting to see Salvatore whining about Tony not making him an Underboss when he's complaining to the FBI. I mean I doubt Tony is a very good boss but he'd have looked even worse if he ended up Promoting a man who was actively talking to the FBI. He was always worried about people finding out he was in Therapy but the result wouldn't have been any better if he'd promoted a Rat. I love Furio, he's such a compelling character and fits into the story seamlessly! This is one of the most overt episodes of this show from a thematic standpoint: People (specifically Tony, Melfi and Christopher) who can't confront their issues and frustrations, who can't deal with feeling vulnerable, lashing out in different ways. Like a lot of season 2, it's almost too cute, too neat and too self-contained. But it still works. Christopher is the most sympathetic and tragic character in the entire series. He's a lost soul that was just trying to find a place where he belongs. He was born into the mob life, but it seems like he always has one foot out the door. Fantastically played by Michael Imperioli.

Christopher without a cause

[MaxBorg89 · 10/10 · 30 March 2008]

Big Girls Don't Cry is the first of two Chris-centric episodes in Season Two, and much like the superb The Legend of Tennessee Moltisanti, they focus wholeheartedly on his career frustrations.

This time, his writer's block is so serious Adriana decides to surprise him with a special birthday present: an acting class for struggling screenwriters, where people like Chris get to understand a little more about the characters they are supposed to create. However, things deteriorate when Chrissy is asked to recreate a scene from Rebel Without a Cause and goes so Method the experience awakens bad memories. Pussy has a bad day too, getting pushed aside while Paulie and Silvio are promoted so that the activities of new crew member Furio Giunta (Federico Castelluccio), whom Tony met in Naples, can be supervised more effectively.

Furio gets to play a pivotal role in the episode, as his methods are compared to Christopher's: the latter, all obsessed with style and a Goodfellas-like approach to things, fails to get a difficult customer to pay the required amount of money at the start of the show; Furio, on the other hand, has been brought up in a more matter-of-fact fashion and proves it by beating up said customer and knee-capping the guy - while cursing in Italian! In less than two minutes, Castelluccio has achieved what other cast members did in an entire episode: he has ensured his character won't fade away in the audience's memory.

Big Girls Don't Cry (#2.5)

[ComedyFan2010 · 8/10 · 6 March 2014]

Chris gets a present from Adriana for a class of acting for writers so it helps him with character development. But inner issues he has interfere and make it end badly. Furio came from Italy and starts helping Tony to get his money with violence. Pussy is being pushed aside when promotions come. And Dr. Melfi takes Tony back as a patient since she feels responsibility.

Chris's story is especially good. Well acted and with lots of emotions.

Furio is so far the first character I don't like. Not his existence, he may contribute something good to the show, but as a person. With the rest I like them even though am sometimes appalled by actions.

And glad to see Tony back with Dr. Melfi.

Well designed characters and their showcase made a great episode

[dudeofgold · 10/10 · 11 March 2023]

The characters have grown and we've watched what has become of them and how they have progressed. In this episode we see how characters deal with - the path they have chosen move forward - and how it's has failed and caused them anxiety and uncertainty doing so. In this episode particularly we see how characters deal with their struggles, their options and strategies to cope and progress.

This episode is the cream from a crop of interesting character design that creates and shows a compelling, interesting dynamic that fits and flows well from the way the character have developed over time. We see how characters connect with each other and their different methods of coping which sets more good plot points in the future for when it showcases what they've managed to learn about This is a very relatable episode since we all deal with struggle in the terms of the future and choosing a path to move foreword in. This show captures that well and shows a very important and sometimes overlooked side of thinking that can be very helpful to people.