Sofia's Laughter

Rating: 7/10 (23 February 2004)

I still believe that Sofia Coppola did an effective acting job in "The Godfather  Part 3". Not that I am crazy about her acting abilities, but although she was resourceful, Sofia was treated so viciously by viewers and by most mainstream critics, that she must be laughing out loud now that she knows better, especially with the reactions to her second movie. People have loved this film, but in my case I think it's a fine movie that's overrated. Sometimes it's just plain blank, with a couple of sequences and many single shots that could have been left out of the final cut. It is a joy to watch Bill Murray in an excellent performance, and seeing Scarlett Johansson grow from the days of "Eight Legged Freaks", but after a while the Japanese jokes become tired and the emotions between their characters become redundant. It may be new to those who have never even considered the possibility of establishing a relationship like the one described here, of friendship between a man and a woman and an older man and a young woman-, but not to those who have always respected the opposite sex on the same level and as their complement. It could have been a better film with 20 minutes less.