Cinematic perfection, why not 10/10?

Rating: 9/10 (16 December 2011)

The Godfather is one of maybe 3 or 4 of those 'perfect movies'. The ones where no matter how many times you watch it, you can't nit-pick anything wrong, unnecessary, even if your life depended on it. It has an amazing story, incredible (and subtle) acting, great cast overall, and it is consistently gripping for the 3-hour run time. There is no trace of any laziness or mistake.
So why shouldn't I give this a perfect rating while we're at it? Well, two reasons mainly.
The first is universal: Despite it's Cinematic perfection, the way I see a perfect movie is if no one hated it. If ANY human being watched this movie from start to finish, they would be on the edge of their seat for 178 minutes (and I mean ANYONE who watched this, not one person left behind). It seems a little like splitting hairs if one person would lean back for a second and no longer calling this movie 'perfect', but when I hear that word, I expect people to mean what they say. And judging from the few hateful reviews I've seen on this one, it just doesn't quite make the cut.
Second, I would be one of those people who happened to sit back for a portion of the movie, mostly after Don Vito came back from the gunshot scene. I was thrilled and angry at the same time, but seeing as how he went on with business as before, I figured it was a break in the movie for everyone to re-cap so far. Bottom line, I got lost a little after that.
Again, if the Godfather were perfect, then it would have a prefect 10/10 overall rating as well, and not the 9.2 it currently has. Still, I recommend anyone who likes movies to watch this one. It will most likely be worth your while.