The Godfather (1972)

Director: Francis Ford Coppola

Starring: Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan

Don Vito Corleone, head of a mafia family, decides to hand over his empire to his youngest son Michael. However, his decision unintentionally puts the lives of his loved ones in grave danger.

And so I finally decided to watch the second highest rated movie of all time. I must have missed something here, because I found this glorified family drama talky insanely boring! Note, this review might contain spoilers. It’s the only way for me to remember this dreary movie…

This 3-hour talk-fest depicts the lives of the Italian crime family Corleone. At least somewhere at the 40-minute mark and I think once later in the film, as well, there was gunfire to keep me awake. As for the rest of the movie, it felt like I was watching a few dozen episodes of a daily soap-opera. Yawn!

At the head of the family is Don Corleone (Marlon Brando). The film starts with the wedding of his daughter, Connie, to Carlo Rizzi. This wedding lasts the first 27 minutes of the movie. Here we meet the family. There’s Don’s sons Michael, Sonny and Fredo (who is an insignificant character who might as well not have been there), and Tom Hagen, whom the family took in when Sonny found him homeless wandering the streets. Michael’s girlfriend is Kay, but when he flees later in the movie he marries another woman on impulse without giving Kay a second thought!!!!

The Corleones is a wealthy and powerful crime family. When drug lord Sollozzo approaches Don with a business proposition, Don declines. Later, Sollozzo has Don shot, and kidnaps Tom. So, Don Corleone is the film’s lead character, but once he is shot around the 40-minute mark, he disappears for most of the movie…or, well, he is there, but bed-ridden and inactive. He doesn’t even play a big part during the film’s finale. I thought he was supposed to be the protagonist, but he takes a back seat for most of the movie. And why is he talking in that annoying whispering voice?

‘The Godfather’ is a very involved film with many characters to keep track of. In all honesty, I found the film dragging and boring. There’s no defined goal. There’s no defined protagonist. There’s no defined antagonist.

There’s no denying ‘The Godfather’ is a well written, well made movie with superb performances from a stellar cast, but it doesn’t even nearly rate among my favourite movies. The purpose of watching a movie, is to be entertained. Unfortunately, with ‘The Godfather’ I wasn’t. Even my partner yawned on several occasions asking me if this really was the second highest rated movie. I’m sorry, this is not for me. Yawn, already, yawn! Maybe back in the 1972 it was special, but with so many (much better) movies out there, I found ‘The Godfather’ forgettable…

‘The Godfather’ received 61 award nominations, winning 30 including Oscars for Best Picture, Best Leading Actor (for Marlon Brando – seriously?), and Best Writing. In total, ‘The Godfather’ received 11 Oscar nominations. At the box office, the film earned a staggering $250 million on a $6 million budget. I’m definitely missing something here…

Would I watch it again? Yawn, no!