When Tony and Manolo confronted Lopez and Bernstein and killed them, why do you think that they let Ernie live and gave him a job?


Don Cardi

Ernie was collateral. Bernstein and Frank were the enemies.

They probably felt that Ernie was just another employee of Frank, just like they had been until Tony had Manny shoot him. The scene shows the childlike unpredictability of criminals like Tony and Manny. After a tense, angry killing, they're friendly and chummy again, almost human. They're living on a different level of reality and don't know it. Ernie does, however, that's why he nervously took that swig of whisky after the tingly moment had passed. Good final touch by scriptwriter Stone in that sequence.

I feel that there was no need to kill him once he said yes to the job if he would have said no they would have killed him

i thought he was the body guard. so why kill someone trying to make a rise just like you are?

There's was a job opening

Always wondered that myself. He should have been killed just for witnessing Tony and Manolo shooting and killing the cop and Frank.

The real question u should be asking is WHY did they employ such a useless bodyguard if we could even call him that... He was more like the chaperone

Well he came in handy for things like helping Tony out of the restaurant in a cocaine induced/ drunk state and grabbing Gina into the car

Agree, Ernie was a driver and not muscle, so there was no threat there. They just offered him a job. As far as killing him if he refused, I dont think so.

Ernie was proven and good help is hard to find.