Reviews for The Godfather
Review - Godfather, The
This movie appears at or very near the top of every list of great movies I've ever seen, so I thought I'd see for myself.
The sets were impressive, and, although I don’t know much about it, the acting and directing seemed impressive. I was able to see all the actors and actresses in their roles except for Diane Keaton. For whatever reason, when she was on screen I thought, "that's Diane Keaton."
As for the plot, it involved a bunch of criminals killing each other. None of the characters were likeable — they were either slime or stupid and sometimes both. I never can understand why people enjoy movies that have no characters to root for. These people died right and left, and I could only see it as a good thing.
Don Vito Corleone is the head of a New York Mafia family right after WWII. He has three sons and a daughter. Sonny and Fredo work with the mob. Michael is a war hero who doesn’t want to get involved with crime. When a movie mogul refuses to do a favor for Vito, he sends his lawyer and adopted son to deal with it. The mogul still says no and wakes up one morning to find the head of his prize racehorse in bad with him.
When Vito refuses to get the family involved in narcotics, it creates a riff with the other families. Sollozzo tries to kill him, but just manages to put him out of commission for a while. The family business is taken over by Sonny.
Michael comes home. Sollozzo and a crooked cop plan a meeting with Michael to work out a truce, but Michael is now involved and kills the two men. He flees to Sicily where he marries Apollonia, a local girl. Then the other families strike back, Sonny is killed, set up by his brother-in-law, Carlo. Apollonia is killed when someone blows up Michael’s car. He returns to New York and marries his old girlfriend, Kay. Vito advises Michael to watch out for traitors, but before anything else happens, Vito dies of a heart attack.
On the day that Michael becomes the godfather of Connie’s son, his men are all over the city killing rival gang bosses and traitors within their own family. Then Michael visits Carlo and kills him, even though he just become his son’s godfather.
• The presence of oranges in all three "Godfather" movies indicates that a death or a close call will soon happen.
• Body count: 18 (including the horse).
• The film spans ten years, from late 1945 to 1955. Michael spends over a year in Sicily. Santino is killed in 1951, it takes at least a year for Michael to be brought back home. Michael's son is three years old when Vito dies, and Vito's tombstone is marked 1955.
Slow-moving, with no likeable characters. It was an impressive movie with impressive sets and, although I don’t know much about it, the acting and directing seemed impressive.
Don't watch it unless you wish, as I did, to be culturally literate.
The sets were impressive, and, although I don’t know much about it, the acting and directing seemed impressive. I was able to see all the actors and actresses in their roles except for Diane Keaton. For whatever reason, when she was on screen I thought, "that's Diane Keaton."
As for the plot, it involved a bunch of criminals killing each other. None of the characters were likeable — they were either slime or stupid and sometimes both. I never can understand why people enjoy movies that have no characters to root for. These people died right and left, and I could only see it as a good thing.
Don Vito Corleone is the head of a New York Mafia family right after WWII. He has three sons and a daughter. Sonny and Fredo work with the mob. Michael is a war hero who doesn’t want to get involved with crime. When a movie mogul refuses to do a favor for Vito, he sends his lawyer and adopted son to deal with it. The mogul still says no and wakes up one morning to find the head of his prize racehorse in bad with him.
When Vito refuses to get the family involved in narcotics, it creates a riff with the other families. Sollozzo tries to kill him, but just manages to put him out of commission for a while. The family business is taken over by Sonny.
Michael comes home. Sollozzo and a crooked cop plan a meeting with Michael to work out a truce, but Michael is now involved and kills the two men. He flees to Sicily where he marries Apollonia, a local girl. Then the other families strike back, Sonny is killed, set up by his brother-in-law, Carlo. Apollonia is killed when someone blows up Michael’s car. He returns to New York and marries his old girlfriend, Kay. Vito advises Michael to watch out for traitors, but before anything else happens, Vito dies of a heart attack.
On the day that Michael becomes the godfather of Connie’s son, his men are all over the city killing rival gang bosses and traitors within their own family. Then Michael visits Carlo and kills him, even though he just become his son’s godfather.
• The presence of oranges in all three "Godfather" movies indicates that a death or a close call will soon happen.
• Body count: 18 (including the horse).
• The film spans ten years, from late 1945 to 1955. Michael spends over a year in Sicily. Santino is killed in 1951, it takes at least a year for Michael to be brought back home. Michael's son is three years old when Vito dies, and Vito's tombstone is marked 1955.
Slow-moving, with no likeable characters. It was an impressive movie with impressive sets and, although I don’t know much about it, the acting and directing seemed impressive.
Don't watch it unless you wish, as I did, to be culturally literate.
Reviewed by Roger on 2005-04-21 22:03:03
Comment added by Roger:
I should also add that it had some language issues, a brief nude scene and a great deal of violence (I believe the body count was 18).