Brilliant, engrossing study of organized crime family...

Rating: 7/10 (6 August 2006)

Although I have a high regard for THE GODFATHER as a gutsy crime melodrama, I would not place it as the #1 film of all time. That place in cinema history should still go to GONE WITH THE WIND, in my opinion.
But it's a brilliant piece of work, gorgeously photographed, extremely well crafted throughout with everyone in the cast perfectly suited to their roles.
I read the Mario Puzo novel and it's as though each actor was hand- picked for their roles with uniform precision. Highest ranking among the performances are MARLON BRANDO (although I needed the caption feature to catch all of his mumbled words), AL PACINO, who practically carries the main part of the story with a very earnest, very strong portrayal of the favorite son, JAMES CAAN as the hot-headed Sonny, and DIANE KEATON as the romantic interest (Kay) for Pacino. All of the others do stand-out work, particularly RICHARD COSTELLANO as Clemenza.
Rumors that some of the details reflect the story behind Frank Sinatra's desperate quest for the role of Maggio in FROM HERE TO ETERNITY are apparently quite true. After all, here the crooning son who needs to save his fading singing career is eager to get a serious role in a war film that is just right for his own Italian persona. We learn that his sweetheart is also the object of lust by a studio head who has spent millions turning her into a studio star only to risk losing her as a property if she marries the crooner. Sound familiar? It should. Think Ava Gardner and Frank Sinatra. Or even Sinatra and Kim Novak. (Is Harry Cohn the lecherous producer???) But just how many of these details are true, I don't know. I like to think that author Mario Puzo invented some of them.
Aside from this aspect of the story, which culminates in a very famous and bloody comeuppance for the uncooperative producer, there are plenty of other gripping sequences where we know something bad is about to happen because of the various injustices within the crime families. This is the hook that ties all of the sequences together and maintains suspense right up until the final touching scene.
A brilliant piece of work--but still not at the top of my "favorite movie" list. It's a well-structured crime story by a man who really knew how to write for this genre--and a man (Francis Ford Coppola) who really knew how to direct this sort of crime melodrama, so meticulously detailed and realistically set in the 1940s.