Close, but not the greatest

Rating: 10/10 (13 January 2000)

"The Godfather" is a visceral achievement in moviemaking and has a rightful place near the top of any list of the greatest films ever made. It seizes your attention, doesn't let go and takes you down the road promised to immigrants to America -- before taking a turn in which we confront the prejudices, mistrust and other roadblocks to the realization of their dreams, and how they went on to create success on their terms. But I have to put it near the top, not AT the top. That honor, on my list, belongs to "The Godfather Part II," for a reason that it's hard to fault Coppola for. In "The Godfather," I found Michael to be too far outside the family at the beginning of the movie. While not renouncing his father, Sonny or their enterprise, Michael seems to be more of an observer in an Army uniform with his white-bread girlfriend nearby than a family member PLANNING to immerse himself in the life his father and brother have chosen. Obviously Michael is drawn closer to his family as it becomes threatened with, then targeted by, violence. This is understandable but, to me, not foreshadowed by the life outside the family that he had chosen a few years earlier and seemed to be comfortable with. Of course, "Part II" gives a much fuller picture of how Michael got to where he was in running the enterprise, and heading the family. But we already know all we need to know about his motives and choices -- courtesy of "The Godfather." This deeper, more realized character of Michael in "Part II" is the reason I rate it ahead of "The Godfather" -- but not by much.