So much wasted potential.

Rating: Null/10 (1 March 2003)

It is worth noting that although I consider THE GODFATHER saga as the greatest film of all time (yes, I consider all three to be one film), this film made me wish at its worst moments that the whole project, from 1972 on, had been taken out of Francis Ford Coppola's hands (perhaps Martin Scorsese wouldn't have littered the trilogy with nepotist talent vacuums like Talia Shire) and that at its best make me wish he had been given the artistic freedom and time that he asked for to make the final installment. The film's many flaws begin with the script. There are no less than five different stories within the world of the Corleones that are being told, and none of them are given the tender loving care that was so obvious in the effectiveness of the complexity of the two preceding epics. Problems plague each individual plot enough that the glaring lack of integration is one of the least critical issues. Had Puzo and Coppola been given the time they would have liked, I am confident their overhaul efforts likely would have been sufficient, and furthermore, Mary Corleone's character might have been tolerable played by a rested Winona Ryder rather than her wooden replacement Sofia Coppola. While in this stage, both the studio and writers might have also considered that while the exclusion of Tom Hagen's character was a crucial mistake, the exclusion or reduction of Kay's character might not have been. While Paramount's impatience certainly rushed writing and casting decisions, the acting, from Al Pacino's tragic loss of subtlety to a performance by Eli Wallach so caricatured it bordered on the offensive, falls at the feet of Coppola and the performers themselves. I wonder if the over-the-top rage and suffering displayed by Pacino is at all related to frustration over having to scramble to rise above material this mediocre. Production values for the most part are still solid -- Gordon Willis' cinematography is as beautiful as ever, and my only complaint is that while a superimposed title at the beginning of the film tells us it is 1979, it is next to impossible to tell from the production design. It might have been better to use a period design, and lose the title, particularly since the Vatican events chronicled happened in 1978. Still, this film has fine moments -- the opening and closing sequences are memorable, if seemingly haphazard in comparison to the touch of the earlier films. The sad truth, however is, that, as it was made, this film never should have been released to add a disappointing coda to in all likelihood the greatest American story ever told. A final thought on THE GODFATHER saga. I have thought that the best format for the saga might have been a two-part sequential chronicle: 1) Vito's story, up to his abdication of power to Michael and 2) Michael's downward spiral from the top, with a lot of trimming from the second and third films involved. No relatives allowed, cast Joe Pesci (Luca Brasi perhaps?), let Martin Scorsese direct the entire film, written by Paul Schrader, Coppola, and Puzo. Just one fan's dream.