It was billed the most anticipated film of the decade, yet Francis Ford Coppola had spent that entire decade turning down requests to make it. It was only his failing finances that finally drove Coppola to accept the job of writing and directing The Godfather, Part III, and for a lot of people, they probably wish he never bothered. But whatever issues they may have had getting it made, it was the casting of a key role with his own daughter Sofia that created ridiculous vitriol and hatred aimed for the writer/director. This element also ended up being a huge part of the reviews when the film finally came out. But did the film deserve this? Join us – Andy Nelson and Pete Wright – as we wrap up our Godfather trilogy series with Coppola’s epilogue to the Michael Corleone story, 1990’s The Godfather, Part III.
We talk about our reactions to the film and where we feel the problems with it lay. We look at Sofia’s performance and weigh in on the issue of nepotism here and debate whether some of the criticism was warranted, regardless of whether it was right or not. We look at the rest of the cast and crew and what they all bring to the table, ending in a little quiz about which people ended up involved in all three films. We talk about the position Paramount Studios was in and why they pushed this film through so quickly and why that rush may have been the crux as to why Coppola could never get the story as good as it should have been. And we look at how this film did compared to its predecessors.
It’s a flawed film but still an entertaining one. We have a great time talking about it on this week’s show as we wrap up the series. Haven’t seen it? Give it a shot. Then check the show out!
Film Sundries
- Watch this film: iTunes • Amazon
- Script Transcript
- Original theatrical trailer
- Original poster artwork
- Flickchart
- Letterboxd
