Movie of the Week: Godfather Part III

Alexa: The first two “Godfather” films are classics, but I’ve always heard Part III doesn’t live up to the legacy of the others. Having now seen the movie for myself, I can attest that’s absolutely true. It’s not a bad movie, but it feels distinctly disjointed compared to the rest of the series. The first two films are deliberate pieces of a complete saga while Part III feels like an afterthought, an extended epilogue rather than a true final chapter. Given the epic nature of the “Godfather” series, it’s particularly frustrating that it ends with a whimper. The elements of the film that do work are mostly retreads of things the previous movies have already done (i.e. the opera scene is basically the baptism scene from the first movie but twice as long and half as effective).  The whole Michael Corleone redemption tour doesn’t feel true to his character. Perhaps the significant time jump between Part II and Part III is to blame, but Michael undergoes a clear progression in the first two films. Now, suddenly, he’s legitimized the business and regrets his past actions. I’m not saying that outcome is unrealistic necessarily, but we don’t get any sense of the developments that got him to this point. We’re just supposed to accept that this is the way he is now. The new characters don’t add much to the story. I know it’s an obvious criticism at this point to highlight Sofia Coppola’s terrible performance but she truly detracts from everything that’s going on around her. I’m so glad she found directing because in front of the camera she’s completely wooden, which is only underscored when she’s surrounded by heavyweights like Al Pacino and Diane Keaton. There isn’t an ounce of chemistry between her and Andy Garcia. Also, are we supposed to be rooting for two first cousins to get together? Can we talk for a second about how whenever anyone finds out about their fling the reaction is “You can’t be together because it’s dangerous,” not “You can’t be together BECAUSE YOU’RE RELATED”??? Mary’s lack of depth is particularly problematic in the film’s climax, draining any sort of emotional resonance from the scene. The ending is my biggest issue with the film. After everything that’s happened over the course of the series it just sort of… ends. I think there was absolutely more to Michael’s story after Part II, but what we get instead is a disappointing finale to an otherwise exceptional epic.

Joel: The Godfather Part III, often enters the conversation as the “bad” Godfather movie and is often one of the prime examples people like to use when saying that trilogies always have one bad installment (usually the third one). When you compare this movie to the previous two installments there is really no question that it doesn’t measure up to the level of the earlier movies. There are a myriad of reasons as to why Part III might be the odd movie out here. The first two Godfather movies in many ways tell a complete story, building a saga that evolves over the two movies. Part III doesn’t feels so much like a third installment in the same story as the first two, but instead like a very long epilogue to the story.

It feels a bit unfortunate that so much of the criticism and commentary surrounding The Godfather Part III focuses on how the movie fails to live up to its predecessors. The Godfather Part III really still a very well made film. It’s incredibly well directed and tells an interesting story all on its own (even if it does feel a bit out of step from the first two movies). It's clear that even if the driving motivation behind the movie is one of financial gain, the creative forces behind the movie still care a great deal about these characters and this story. Time and care is given to trying to bring to life a conclusion arc for The Godfather saga, one that involves Michael Corleone having to truly atone for his sins. There are elements in the movie that do suggest that there is a final story to be told in the saga of Michael Corleone. It just never is able to pull itself together and achieve the level that the first two movies are at. Unfortunately, a review of a well made movie ends up focusing mostly on the criticism simply because it’s a four star movie in a franchise where everything else is worthy of five stars.  

Of course, as is tradition with every review of The Godfather Part III, we also have to take time to talk about Sofia Coppola. Coppola’s acting was widely criticized at the release of the movie, and pretty much every piece written about the movie ever since has echoed that as well. Honestly, Sofia Coppola is to The Godfather Part III what Part III is to the rest of the Godfather franchise. Yes, Coppola is way out of her league here, acting wise. Everyone else in the movie brings their A game to this movie. Pacino and Keaton both work to bring their character arcs to a worthwhile close. Franchise newcomer Andy Garcia also has a fantastic performance here as he brings to life a character that echoes his father, portrayed by James Caan in the first film. In comparison, Sofia Coppola’s performance is clearly not on the level of the others in the movie. Yet, maybe it’s everyone always saying how bad she was in the movie, but I didn’t take near as much of an issue with her performance as I might have. Coppola has a weird, simple and naive air about her, that in many cases actually fits into the character of Mary. Sure we’ll never know what could have been if the original casting of Winona Ryder had held, but Coppola is a weak point at most, not a deal breaker for the movie.

Chris: They’re not all going to be gems, folks, but I really wanted to include the Godfather trilogy in our weekly series once they hit Netflix and I knew from the outset that Part III was the one set-back in my plan. My sincere hope is that the first two were good enough to cover for the third. There was just too much in this movie and none of the content blended well with each other, something was vastly missing and I think the bulk of it was the coherence and purpose that was integral to the other movies. I believe a third Godfather was necessary and the time waited between II and III was perfect as a conclusion but there was a misfire in the execution. Robert Duvall should’ve gotten paid whatever his fee was to make sure he was in this movie (I’m sorry but George Hamilton is not a competent replacement) and ANYBODY and I do mean anybody should’ve been cast as Mary instead of Sofia Coppola. She’s a very talented filmmaker but Coppola never should’ve been put in front of the camera and I feel bad because she’s always the top complaint about what was wrong with Part III but she’s by far not the only factor and honestly, Andy Garcia got on my nerves almost just as much as her performance. A few years back, I took a class in college about the mafia movie genre and, honestly, the professor didn’t seem to understand the concept of the class and it turned into a non-stop study of the anti-mafia movement. The one plus about that class was a concentration of Godfather III because of the opera that was performed Cavalleria Rusticano and how it became the basis of the public’s knowledge of what the mafia was and how the movie was filled with references to the plot of the opera and included the opera itself. The only problem is, nobody knows or understands that element of the movie unless it was explained to them beforehand. If you go in blank, like I’m sure a lot of you did, you see no deeper meanings or references to a 19th century opera except for a long drawn-out sequence that did seem a bit pointless aside from the action that was intercut within. I have forgotten a lot about this movie but I knew it’s far inferior to the others but that being said, I don’t think Godfather III is a bad movie but it could’ve been so much better. This was Michael’s big downfall, the completion of the tragedy that I mentioned in the other reviews and for Michael to pay for the pain he had caused and the execution just wasn’t there. In the other movies, Al Pacino faded away and I simply just saw Michael Corleone and in this movie, I just saw Al Pacino giving an Al Pacino performance. It would’ve been different if this movie was just made with no real purpose and no story but that’s probably the tragic thing about Godfather III, there was a purpose and a story to tell but the execution of said story was lackluster.

Jason: The first film in this series is an icon. The second one was a decent follow up to the icon. This third one? It was a blatant cash-grab hoping to squeeze a few extra bucks off a franchise that should have been left where it was. The writing was worse, the acting was worse, the story was worse. And that’s saying something if you’ve read my reviews for the other two…

Remember last month when I said I couldn’t be made to care about the Corleone family any more? Yeah this film didn’t change that. The pacing for the first half of this movie felt pretty on par with the others: fairly broad jumps in the timeline and moving from one country to the next. It kept the story flowing. The second half, however, took that idea and crapped all over it. They decided to take one event and drag it out for literally an hour. The opera scene and everything that happened during it was severely out of place. They could have wrapped up the ending and made the movie 30-40 minutes shorter and it would have felt more cohesive with the rest of the established storytelling. And the plot didn’t do it any favors either. They watered down Michael’s character and took away his bite. Maybe that was the point but it just wasn’t executed well. And the gross incest plotline with Vinny and Mary was awful! Made my skin crawl.

The original movie had Marlon Brando to hold my interest. The second had Robert De Niro. This one had Sofia Coppola. Let’s talk for a second about how atrocious of an actor she is. That lip snarl thing she does looks painful and her deadpan delivery only work in one scene (you know which one I’m talking about, right at the very end). It looked like the entirety of her dialog was ADR’d. Poorly, at that! Oh man, she was a huge mistake. Apparently, the role of Mary was supposed to go to Winona Ryder at one point. That would have been a much better choice but then she wouldn’t have been in “Edward Scissorhands”, which would have been tragic. Just goes to show ya, nepotism is a bad idea, folks.

I came very close to using up my self-imposed one anual skip for this film. I probably should have. But hey, now I can say that I’ve seen all three Godfather films. Hooray? I will most likely never watch them again.