A study in social pathology

Rating: 10/10 (13 November 2005)

A man immigrants to the United States from Italy and has three sons - the oldest is intellectually deficient, the second is a temperamental bully and hothead, and the third, seems well adjusted and normal. Yet looks can be deceiving, for it is the third son, Michael, who is actually more cunning and more depraved than his two older brothers and proves it. Michael is a merchant of death cloaked in the regalia of middle-class civility which makes him even more lethal. Michael never loses his temper; he dresses impeccably; he's a highly decorated army veteran and has an admiring wife, all of which is mere window dressing masking a viciousness and brutality that is without limit. And what is it that Michael wants? Only to protect his family from "enemies" who want to destroy his family. Except the enemies are of Michael's making. Al Pacino's portrayal of the sinister Michael Corleone is one of the great and classic performances in the history of movie making. Mr. Pacino fully and effectively projects every nuance of Michael's distorted and depraved character, from his predatory nature as a merciless and cold blooded killer who shoots two men at point-blank range with whom he is having dinner; to his hypocritical flaunting of religion such as using the baptism of his son as a cover while ordering the assassination of some of his supposed "enemies"; to his blatant dishonesty such as when he lies right to his wife's face; and to his decision to wantonly murder his own brother-in-law, and thereby make his sister a grieving widow. Marlon Brando got top billing for this movie, but it was Al Pacino who is the real star.