Review of The Godfather Part III (1990) by Chris D — 21 Jan 2012

A decent film, but an unnecessary part of the Godfather series. I felt like Coppola left us in a good place in the second film, where we could speculate on how the Corleone family's life continued. Instead, nothing is left to the imagination, and what we get is a competent continuation of the story, but not much more. Michael Corleone is a late middle-aged man at this point, with a child, and very distant relationship with his ex-wife, Kay. I did enjoy the story, but it feels somewhat tired, and there is no freshness in this younger group of Corleones. Sofia Coppola's role as Michael's daughter is particularly atrocious. Many have commented that she is suppose to be a girl that is uncomfortable, yet largely naive about her father's business. To me, the acting was very wooden, and more indicative of a weak actress then anything inherent in the character. The "relationship" between Coppola and Andy Garcia just isn't there: he looks easily 10-15 years her senior, and more embodies an older brother then any love connection.

Coppola's acting (or lack thereof) is so vital to the closing scenes of the film, and that is why these scenes were a complete and total failure for me. When the girl can't act throughout the film, I grew detached from her character, and her death in the end meant nothing to me. Obviously Michael and Kay are upset, and those are characters I DO care about, but by this point they're both out of their prime, and the world has moved on. It's clear that the director wanted that scene to be show the daughter paying for the sins of the father, but why should we care, since she seemed like such an uninteresting, boring person? That certainly sounds cruel, but it's important for the audience to love a character in order to recognize their death as highly tragic. No amount of tears from Pacino or Keaton could do that: it had to be built throughout the film by learning who this girl was, and why she was a beautiful soul that would have done great things in the world. Coppola (the father and daughter) both failed to fully realize this, and when the whole climax of the film centers around this point, it deeply hurts the film's whole plot. The final death scene I did enjoy, because Micheal's death is shown to have no effect, as those that he may have loved have either left him or died, as a direct result of all the choices he made (or were forced on him) throughout his life. That scene, in the end. gives this otherwise lackluster film (relative to the other Godfather movies) a boost. Nevertheless, the subtitle of the film (if they were being honest) should have said "We Really Need Money" because that's what this was all really about, and that always hurts the art.

The biggest problem (as so many others have pointed out) is that this was a series of films, and so it should be expected that people will look to the first 2 as reference points. It was a standard that may have been impossible to maintain (and it had been 16 years...which only compounds things), but it would have been helpful if Coppola hadn't made the outrageous conclusion that his daughter would be the best choice to play the daughter of Corleone. Casting that role should have been more important then a Christmas release date, and should have been put off until a professional actress could play the role. It's amazing how a director can completely sell out his own masterpieces, in order to pay off debt obligations. I do wish the studios had allowed him to name this film "The Death of Michael Corleone" because it doesn't come close to meeting the standard set by the first two.