"The Godfather Part III"
by: Paolo Sardinas

Francis Ford Coppola's third and final installment in the "Godfather" trilogy is also the weakest. "Part III" picks up with Michael feeling remorseful over his blind ambition and years of self indulgence in crime. At this time Michael is 60 and has abandoned his estate in Lake Tahoe, along with that his brother Tom Hagen(Robert Duvall) has died. In an attempt to make amends on his life of crime, Michael creates a charity in name of his father, Vito Corleone. Which provides money for a better Sicily. The film itself was released 16 years after the second, and at times feels just plain weak. The film rolls on with Michael eventually being pulled back into the life of crime, and dies. Alone and in silence.

When you make a film as significant as "Godfather: Part II" you can't expect to revive the series almost two decades later and still have people like it. This is what Coppola tried to do but ultimately failed. As interesting as the characters and stories may seem to be, it's almost exactly what you'd expect and the film almost never offers up any good surprises. After few years of hits and misses, Al Pacino obviously returned to the role which made him famous. Only this time he doesn't give an A plus performance, but was rather weak and uninterested. Granted he didn't have much to work with. I always felt that he deserved the Oscar for his previous two performances, a mistake which did nothing but make the academy look like idiots. A fine actor who was given the award for a ridiculous film, and was always ignored for his better ones. What a crazy world we live in

The rest of the performances were so-so with the exception of two actors, Andy Garcia and Sophia Coppola. One great, one awful. I think you know which is which. Let's start with Gracia. Andy Garcia gives a bonified and riveting performance as Vincent Mancini, the child of Sonny Corleone and Luci Mancini. Never really considered part of the family, hence a different last name, he absolutely steals the show. He was the most deserving out of all the nominees to win that Supporting Actor Oscar, but sadly lost. The second one to talk about is Sofia Coppola, who plays Michael's daughter Mary. She was the only true miscast in the entire film. As bad as it was to watch her performance, I have to say it ultimately was nothing more than a time waster, and the role should of gone to Winona Ryder. Like originally planned.

The script, as underdeveloped as it was, does nothing to help the actors. It only takes these incredible talents, and makes them suffer. Sure the film offers some good moments here and there but its ultimately does nothing more than to waste time. A big big time waster. The at times confusing storyline jumps in and out, and introduces characters from all over the place. Never stays on one clear cut path and usually loses your attention. Whether it was rushed, sloppy, or just plain bad we'll never know. Only is the film was as good or somewhat as good as its predecessor would we have been more satisfied. Who knows? Nobody really knows, but what has happened has happened. A series which should of ended with second installment, can be summed up with one quote. "Just when I thought I was out... they pull me back in.", sadly it didn't pull us in enough. Grade: C