good, but...

Rating: 9/10 (16 April 1999)

The Godfather is a good movie. That's where it stops. It is not a great movie in any way. Marlon Brando gives the worst performance in the movie, being at best pedestrian in his role, and at worst immensely boring. (Laurence Olivier should have won the Oscar for Sleuth or Peter O'Toole for The Ruling Class) Mercifully, the supporting cast was excellent - Duvall and Pacino especially. Caan was good as Santino, but suffered a bit in overacting his rages. Part of the problem with this film is the book it came from - the book is about 450 pages long, and has a complete story for just about every character on screen. Unless Coppola wanted a 10 hour movie, he just couldn't do that, which I understand. I'd read the book shortly before seeing the film, and I have a lot more respect for the book. I would like to see Part Two, given that a lot of people say it is better (I can easily believe that). I gave The Godfather 8/10, because, as I said, it is a good, but not great movie. Truly great movies include Life is Beautiful, The Professional and A Clockwork Orange.