The Godfather Part III (1990)

 The Godfather Part III (1990)

Everyone thought The Godfather and The Godfather Part II told the complete story of Francis Ford Coppola's epic crime saga. Even the director himself thought so. But it was not meant to be. 16 years later, Paramount greenlighted The Godfather Part III. I have mixed opinions about how I feel about the movie. On one hand, it was fascinating to see Al Pacino return as Michael Corleone as he grapples with legitimacy and how he fights his past, present, and future. We all remember how the second movie ended with Michael ordering the death of his brother, Fredo in one of the most famous endings of all time. Here is where he faces the ghosts of his past. It is an incredibly fascinating insight in the mind of a complex human being. On the other hand, Coppola's heart may have been 100% into this project. Some moments felt disjointed and the editing felt like something was off at times. On top of that, Sofia Coppola's performance is really bad. Her father was accused of nepotism but that was not the case here. Sofia was in the first two movies, and he couldn't find anyone to play Mary. Personally, I thought the good outweighed the bad. There are many great character moments. Sparks continued to fly between Pacino and Diane Keaton's Kay. Michael's sister Connie, played by Talia Shire, takes middle-aged scheming to an entire new level. I liked the themes Coppola and fellow screenwriter Mario Puzo touched upon. No matter how legitimate or changed a person can be, the past will always catch up. Michael even quotes that. Clocking in at a robust 2 hours and 42 minutes, the film is a long finale that completes Michael's story. For the most part, it is certainly worth the ride.

For the longest time, Coppola had little interest in making a third film because he felt the story was complete despite Paramount's insistence. Throughout the 80's, Coppola made interesting movies but many failed to financially recoup the production costs therefore the director lost money. Making a third movie of this crime saga would help him financially. Some of the cast came back in their respective roles, but a big missing piece was Robert Duvall's Tom Hagen. Hagen would have been in charge of the various Catholic charities Michael participated in. Instead, he did not return because Duvall felt like the money was not good enough especially that Pacino was being paid four times as much. Hagen was written out of the script and given an offscreen death. He was replaced by B. J Harrison, played by George Hamilton. I did like how the film's plot was ripped from the news. I am specifically talking about the corruption within the Vatican. The sudden death of Pope John Paul I and the Vatican banker who was murdered in London were just some of the headlines intertwined with the story. I felt that played into Michael's wish to find forgiveness and redemption. But as any viewer will notice, corruption can affect everyone...even holy men.

This third installment takes place in 1979. Michael (Al Pacino) is now in his sixties and he is all about his legacy, His businesses are now legitimate with the criminal portion of his enterprise handed over to Joey Zasa (Joe Mantegna). His daughter, Mary (Sofia Coppola), runs his Catholic charity and they donated $100 million to the Vatican. Michael plans to invest in some Vatican property. Michael's empire is stable and peaceful until Sonny Corleone's illegitimate son, the hotheaded Vincent Mancini (Andy Garcia), comes along and begins to fight with Zasa. When Michael was just about out, he was dragged back in.

I loved seeing Al Pacino return as Michael Corleone. His scenes, are quite frankly, the best part of the film. Demons are clawing at Michael from all sides, internally and externally. He still feels guilt from ordering his brother's death. His family is still shattered, even though he still loves Kay (played beautifully again by Diane Keaton). Does his final sequence live up to our expectations? I am still unsure but obviously Coppola was paying homage to Brando's death from the first Godfather. Some people despised Andy Garcia's performance. Personally, I liked it. His character is an idiot sometimes but his trigger-happy temper fell right in line with Sonny (James Caan from the first film). I do agree with the general consensus regarding Sofia Coppola's performance. Her character is interesting, but the performance is just not good especially when acting next to legends like Pacino and Keaton.

The Godfather Part III is a complicated film. Just how Coppola originally thought, the film did not need to be made. When compared to the first two films, it does not compare well. I did like most of the film. The scheming and the politics is actually quite intriguing especially with the corruption of the Vatican playing an important role in the plot. It was nice to see what Michael and Kay were up to all these years later. Coppola's performance and the ending are some of the reasons why the film does not achieve the heights of the first two movies. As I close this review out, I will say the score and production design are very, very good. This movie received plenty of hate back in the day. It does not deserve that even if the first two films are better.

My Grade: B.