An insider told Bobby that the DA was investigating Ben, and advised him to tell Ben to lay low, as in, out of the country low, like, Havana Cuba low.

We never see if Bobby told Ben. The next time we see Ben, he's being perp walked out of the club in handcuffs.

Did Bobby tell Ben to beat it, amscray, but Ben thumbed his nose? Or, did Bobby, lost in his own head about Vonnie, just forget, essentially sealing Ben's demise? If the latter, Bobby never has a moment of reflection, never thinks "Oh, crap, I really dropped the ball there, didn't I?"

As much as I love this movie, I think something is missing here. We should have seen one or the other of the above two scenarios played out.

I would argue the latter is the more plausible. Ben was not presented as a hothead. He was brutal, a killer, no question, but he was cool, always cool around the family, and quite cerebral. It'd have made more sense, in my mind, that Bobby told him, he beat it for Cuba, liked it there, kept in touch with Bobby, and Bobby stayed in NYC, ran the club, with the cops bringing heat that he had to navigate.

I do recognize, however, that, in this scenario, we don't get all the philosophical discussion about being "buried a Jew" vs. "believing part of me continues", or the discussion from Ben/Bobby's parents about praying and never getting an answer, keeping vs. giving up one's religion, adopting an afterlife to "get more customers", etc.

So, Bobby warns Ben, Ben doesn't want to go? Nah. He would have gone. I think it'd have to be: Bobby tells Ben, Ben starts planning to go, but the cops nab him before he can get gone...and the rest continues.