Count Me In The Minority

Rating: 6/10 (25 November 2002)

First I have to say that it is very difficult to watch this movie for the first time (which I just did) and approach it with an open mind. The glowing reviews it gets everywhere (many of course calling it the best movie ever made) gives one extremely high expectations and the possibility of being easily disappointed. The many parodies of the movie also give it a cult status that makes one think one knows the story even if one has never seen it.
I thought "The Godfather" was a good movie, but nothing more than that really. I personally wouldn't call it the greatest movie ever made; not even one of the greatest. It was good, worth watching once and I'm glad I've finally seen it, but nothing more.
The portrayal of mob life in the post-war era seemed realistic enough, and the appropriate atmosphere was set. The opening scenes (revolving around Don Corleone's daughter's wedding) gave me mixed feelings. I thought the whole thing went on too long, but it did demonstrate that Corleone's "business" never ended - he was constantly meeting with various people looking for favours rather than being front and centre at the wedding. Brando, of course, won (and refused to accept) the Oscar for Best Actor for his portrayal of Corleone, but I wasn't actually taken with his performance. First, I really didn't think of him as the Lead Actor. Al Pacino (as Corleone's son Mike) was, I thought, far more important to the story and far more interesting to watch. Brando had - to me - an almost cartoonish aura around him. Over-rated in my view. But Pacino was excellent, and the character of Mike the most interesting in the movie, as he evolves from the returned war hero who wants nothing to do with the family "business" to the eventual "Don."
It's not that I thought this was a bad movie. It was quite watchable and for the most part very interesting. I just think I've seen better.
6/10