Could have been a lot better.

Rating: 6/10 (18 January 2007)

Because of all the hype surrounding Godfather, I decided to take the plunge. I started out reading the book. I read the first 40 pages on a long flight. Not wanting to spend endless hours reading nearly 500 pages, I decided to watch the movie instead. I have to say I was disappointed. Godfather is basically a soap opera shortened to 3 hours.
First, there's too much dialogue. Godfather's probably 10% action and 90% talk. It wouldn't been so bad if you could understand the conversations, but I found myself constantly missing out on something and having to rewind. I particularly got lost when the Don meets the Sollozzos for the first time. This conversation was one of the most important parts of the film, yet I heard nothing but mumblings.
The jumbled storyline doesn't help either and not much makes sense. Michael's activities in Italy, his business dealing in Vegas, and him beating up a guy in the street had absolutely nothing to do with the plot. Why the hell those scenes even added? I have never seen a movie that conveyed so much confusion to their audience.
The acting was excellent though, but as one has already mentioned - lacked depth. Godfather had little character development and the characters do not have distinct personalities. I swear you couldn't tell Michael or Sonny apart. I think this was more the fault of the scriptwriters or director. Also the chemistry between Kay and Michael just wasn't there. Their marriage at the end seemed odd because of the poorly scripted relationship between them throughout the film.
A good movie in my definition should be one that can be interpreted by even a ten year old. Too often, the movie conveys too little information and expects you know everything that's going on.
I do have to say the movie has an artistic quality to it. The setting and camera-work beautifully done. And as I have said before, the acting was top-notch. Unfortunately the negative aspects doesn't make up for it. When the movie was over, I couldn't believe it was over. I was like, that's it? I was expecting so much more, especially for being a top ranked movie on IMDb.
If you want to see a real movie/show, watch Prison Break.