The Godfather

The Godfather (1972)
Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Cast: Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Robert Duvall, Diane Keaton
Memorable Line: "Because a man that doesn't spend time with his family can never be a real man."

The Godfather movies are almost always rated by critics as some of the best movies ever made and deservingly so, but...and you saw that coming, while I did find this movie quiet well done, there are portions where the craft doesn't equal other sensational overall quality of the movie. It sort of like seeing the flaws in perfection, but the flaws are there and while not detracting from the movie as a whole, they distracted me.

This epic and sweeping movie chronicles lives of the Corleone crime family and is set after the end of World War II. The head of the family is Don Corleone (Brando) and at his side are his hot-headed son, Sonny (Caan) and his quasi-adopted son and wise counselor, Tom Hagen (Duvall). Initially, There is a near perfect balance of the impetus Sonny (Caan) and the all-business Tom (Duvall), but something is missing when Don Corleone is out of commission. Corleone's younger son, Michael (Pacino), is purposefully kept at arms length from the family business. But the family business is a messy at times and this messiness is one that finds its a way of spreading its dirt across the entire family. While Don Corleone is the head of the family, the stoy pivots on Michael. While the dominant family in New York, the Corleone's are always targets for the other ambitious other families and when one comes gunning for Don Corleone, Michael has to step up and protect the family. He does this with a calm and ruthless hand.

The performances are almost overly natural. Brando is at times almost unintelligeable as Don Corleone because of some of his affectations, but it works for the character. Caan embodies the hair trigger Sonny. Duvall provides a subdued performance as Tom. It was nice to see Pacino before he felt he had to create these larger than life characters. His performance is measured and controlled and that's what makes it work. The supporting cast are totally believable from the other crime family members to the corrupt cops to even a nurse who assists Michael in a desperate move to protect his father.

The look and feel of the movie are expertly handled. There's a sumptuousness to the images -- a depth that makes the story come to life. Coppola's handling of the explosions of violence is almost aloof and matter-of-fact, as if this were something normal and without any extraordinary notice. In doing this, it makes it all the more chilling. It almost reminiscent of war movies in which there a long periods of tedium interspersed with dreadful and chaotic moments of brutality and violence.

Now, for my nit-picking. After viewing the movie again after almost 30 years since seeing it, I found some of the music cues to be heavy handed and clumsy. Also, a couple of the scenes seemed rushed. One in particular is when Michael comes back from Italy and finds Kay and asks her to marry him. The scenes seems rush and not fully realized.

But it's difficult to look at a masterpiece and throw mud at it. There's all too much that is good about The Godfather to look at isolated elements and to allow to it distract from the general effect of the movie.