REVIEW #500....a celebration of sorts on a film that is truly a classic in every sense of the word

Rating: 10/10 (19 May 2007)

Ladies and gentlemen, I happen to think that this is a major milestone in my film review career. This is my 500th review on IMDb. I feel proud, I feel excited and yet now I have 1000 in my eyes and shooting for the stars. Thank you to everyone who reads and enjoys my reviews because I love watching the movies...even the bad ones...but I am excited about 2007's Summer films coming out. Live Free or Die Hard is one of my most anticipated!! To choose the film that I would bestow my 500th review on was actually very simple. I knew it had to be a classic, something perhaps controversial and to me The Godfather was the obvious choice. To some The Godfather is considered the finest film ever made...period. It might be the mostly widely accepted classic in cinema history and there is good reason behind it. The Godfather is also currently the highest rated film on IMDb (currently getting an outstanding 9.8 average.) So let's talk about The Godfather.
For me The Godfather is true brilliance...I won't argue with it and I came into this review determined to nit pick this classic and try to find something slightly off with it. I couldn't do it...I couldn't find a single reason why I wouldn't slap a 10/10 on this...so I did. The Godfather is far more than a 'gangster flick,' it's far beyond Goodfellas, Casino, or The Sopranos because The Godfather is a drama, a deep intense, disturbing, dark drama that draws you into this political, violent, gritty world that this family lives and breaths and has for years. You see a man who grew up in this lifestyle under the most powerful man in the underworld and yet chose to turn away from it but is almost destined to be pulled back towards it and take control of the powerful family. Every scene in The Godfather is done with the utmost care and respect, the characters are so intensely created from the smallest roles, to the biggest and you feel like you're right there. From the streets of New York, to the countryside of Sicily, from brutal murders and assassinations, to marriages, funerals, and births. The Godfather is quite simply an astounding piece of epic cinema.
Marlon Brando because he is Hollywood Elite certainly gets top billing for the film. I admit I have only seen Brando in a handful of films and The Godfather is the earliest work of his I have seen so I have not seen Brando in his 'classic' Hollywood roles. I just don't think Brando should have gotten top billing, that being said Marlon Brand IS The Godfather. The only problem is that throughout the film he is aged, delicate and sickly so that we don't see him in what would have been his prime and yet with every movement and word that Brando does you can envision Vito Corleone as the powerful figure he once was. Brando IS The Godfather...period. Al Pacino is the true star of this film. He brilliant creates the son of Vito Corleone Michael. As a character Michael goes through more diverse changes than anyone else. In the beginning he is a returning war hero, desperate to keep his distance from his family name and family business and yet by the end he IS The Godfather...Don Corleone and single handedly has saved his families future. Pacino is downright brilliant and I love his work but this is one of his truly best performances. Pacino was absolutely robbed by not receiving a nomination or win for this performance when Brando got both and didn't even accept it. Pacino turns in a better and more depthy performance by far. James Caan is also brilliant as the hot headed and easily angered Santino Corleone who is forced into the position of heading the family when his father is almost assassination. Caan doesn't get as much screen time as his character deserved but nonetheless makes 'Sonny' one of the most memorable characters from the film. Robert Duvall turns in probably one of the second best performances in the film as soft spoken, legally minded and intelligent Tom Hagen who tries to guide the Corleone family through the worst of times both diplomatically and strategically. He never dirties his own hands but is always willing to do what necessary to protect the family. Duvall is brilliant as well. This main cast is supported by a brilliant supporting cast including Richard S. Castellano, Diane Keaton, Abe Vigoda, Talia Shire, John Cazale, Al Martino, and Lenny Montana (all of these actors stand out from the enormous cast as important and well played characters.)
As you watch the film you might even think it's dragging a little and thinking it's a little slow but then you're so incredibly caught up in every moment and every story of this family that you're completely enthralled. Their are more brilliant and shocking scenes than almost any other film in history including...Michael's first wife's death, the horse head in the bed, the Assassination Michael performs in the Restaurant and the downright poetically disturbing murder of all the five family heads at the end. Director Francis Ford Coppola set himself apart permanently in the history of cinema by making this beautiful, gritty and quietly violent film. Mario Puzo wrote characters that have so much depth and importance and such real emotion to them. It might take awhile to get through The Godfather but every minute is worth it because this film lives up to it's powerful name and is truly worth the title of classic. 10/10
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