I think the punch mike took from McCluskey was a little dramatic.... the man had a lump for months... McCluskey was in his late 40's early 50's and he was able to do that kind of damage.... please let me know what you think... did they over dramatize the hit...

Hi.

I don't think it was overly dramatized. McCluskey wasn't a small guy -Mike was- and Mike was being held up for maximum impact.

I didn't think it was necessarily over dramatized either. then again, I know little of impacts that punches can have on you. If you are hit hard enough and in the right spot, especially in the face, I don't find it unreasonable that you'd stay bruised for a while.

I once, a few years ago, literally ran into the wall as I stumbled half asleep out of bed. I went to work only after a couple hours to discover I had a black eye. I didn't think I had hit that hard.

I had planned a trip to Michigan to go to my aunt/uncles 50th wedding anniversary. Everyone thought I got beaten up. The bruise stayed for over a week.


TIS

i have been hit plenty of times... but mike has the bruise and bump for months while he was in hiding.... he got married and still had it... i just i seen mike tyson hit someone and they didnt have marks that long lol

My younger brother had his jaw broken recently and needed his muth to be wired shut for over a month. The bruising was the only thing that might have been played up a bit.

The Harlan Lebo book (The Godfather Legacy) mentions that the make up person in Sicily was not very good and the jaw bruise was not done too well. As far as the affect on his speech, sinus, etc., I'm sure a well-placed punch can do extensive damage.

Exactly. A little knowledge of physics and anatomy will explain alot. The book states that Mike had to have bits of bone dug out of skull and his jaw had to be wired. People just don't understand the physics of a punch delivered to a relatively immobile person by what is essentially bone - a fist. The destruction of capillaries, muscle tissue, fat tissue, and bone can be immense and the effects last for months or never be returned to normal. The impact on the jaw will send alot of energy through the neck and down the spine which could have even worse effects. By the way, professional boxers wear at least 10 oz gloves and they tape their hands because the gloves don't offer all the protection to their own hands that they need.

In the book, Mike says that he needs surgery to correct a badly-healed bone pressing on a facial nerve. However, he doesn't trust the doctors in Sicily and must wait until he gets back to the US. I think Fredo even mentions the surgery when he sees Mike in Vegas.

Exactly. That wasn't a fistfight. McCluskey, a big guy, aimed and applied for maximum impact while Michael was being held still. Michael was probably treated in an emergency ward and told to make an appointment for corrective surgery to realign his jaw, make sure all bone fragments were removed properly, and to treat damaged facial tissue. Of course he never got that chance, and he probably was wary of getting it done in Sicily, either because he feared he might be assassinated in a hospital, or more likely because he didn't trust the docs. NB: In Sicily, Dr. Taza, a fellow guest of Don Tomassino's, offers to treat Michael, but he declines. Michael knows that Dr. Taza, like so many other Sicilian doctors, got his medical license via the Don's influence, not through his brilliant talent.

In the book Kay has to persuade Michael to do something about his face because he looked like a gangster. If she hadn't done so, she would have been reminded every morning about her husband's occupation.

Good point Danito,

I believe Puzo (and later FFC) included and played up the lasting damage of the blow to Michael's face in order to illustrate Kay's desire to reject what Michael was/ was becoming. By having Kay insist that he get the surgery, she didn't have to live with the day to day reminder that her husband was a gangster.

I watched the movie last night. Did he have the mark on his face when he goes to New Hampshire to woo Kay back? I don't think so. Yet Fredo mentions it when he sees him in Vegas, which takes place afterwards.

Actually, in the novel, Kay doesn't care. She only worries about possible sinus problems and how the kids will react to it. It's his mother who says it makes him look like a gangster.
And SB, I don't really think any disfigurement showed in that scene.