Cleaver (The Sopranos) Cleaver (The Sopranos) Cleaver is a metafictional film within a TV-series that serves as an important plot element toward the end of the HBO television drama series "The Sopranos". Although very little film material is actually shown in the series, its planning and development are discussed at large throughout multiple seasons of the show. The extent to which Sopranos character Christopher Moltisanti mixes confidential and personal information about the Soprano mob family into the story elements of Cleaver is the focal point throughout its development. After the project eventually materializes, Cleaver can be categorized as a direct-to-DVD mafia-slasher film, described
The Legend of Tennessee Moltisanti "no one watching really cares what Melfi's ex-husband thinks", VanDerWerff listed Christopher's conversations with Paulie and Tony among his favorite scenes from the entirety of "The Sopranos" and argued that "the series shows it has a certain affection for these characters, these scumbags." Alan Sepinwall also praised the scene between Christopher and Paulie as "remarkable [...] as it illustrates the folly of trying to model your life on your favorite movie and TV characters", but wrote that the dialogue in the scenes with Melfi's family about the popular image of Italian-Americans "grows a little didactic at times". The Legend of