Review of The Godfather Part III (1990) by Peter F — 15 Dec 2016

In this final chapter of the Godfather saga there are definitely some hallmarks of the series that they bring back. It not only shows flashbacks to events in the first two films, but it also reflects those events by passing them on to the next generation. I thought the story that was being told in this film was effective, and might have been more engaging than Part 2 for me, largely because Michael becomes a more sympathetic character again. I also have to say that Al Pacino might do some of his best acting in this chapter of the trilogy. There is so much emotion in his performance, and I could sense the internal struggle he was dealing with.

I think where this movie struggles is in some of the story structure, and other acting performances. The plot of the movie is easy to follow, but there are poor decisions made in how things are edited and how they flow that makes it frustrating and uneven. The final act gets very convoluted to the point where I almost started laughing at how they were dragging out the interplay of all these different murders. Don't even get me started on the lazy writing that decided it was a good idea for two characters, who are talking about cousins falling in love, coincidentally finding a puppet show that is about two cousins falling in love.

The poor decisions in the way the story is told is a problem, but possibly a bigger problem is the cast. No, I'm not just talking about Sofia Coppola. Sure, her performance is bad and it almost seems like she's been dubbed for every line. But are we really supposed to buy Joe Mantegna as an intimidating foe for the Corleones? Maybe I've seen Baby's Day Out too many times, but he is too broad and unconvincing as a villain. Andy Garcia is OK as the film progresses, but his early scenes as a loose cannon are a little over the top. Franc D'Ambrosio is totally flat as Anthony, and there are several other minor performances that bother me. Then there is the chorus line of returning cameos that almost turn this into a Where's Waldo game of "spot the characters from the better movies." I thought The Godfather: Part III was a decent enough finale to the trilogy, but it lacked some of the quality found in the first two chapters.