{"id":4890,"date":"2016-12-03T11:21:41","date_gmt":"2016-12-03T16:21:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/?p=4890"},"modified":"2026-04-10T13:00:17","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T17:00:17","slug":"the-godfather-part-iii","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/?p=4890","title":{"rendered":"The Godfather: Part III-1990"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Godfather: Part III-1990<\/strong><\/p>\n

Director Francis Ford Coppola<\/strong><\/p>\n

Starring Al Pacino, Diane Keaton, Andy Garcia<\/strong><\/p>\n

Scott’s Review #533<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Reviewed December 3, 2016<\/p>\n

Grade: B+<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Godfather: Part III, released in 1990, has traditionally been met with unwavering criticisms for not being as great as the two preceding epics.<\/p>\n

Sofia Coppola, who plays Mary- daughter of Michael Corleone, in particular, has bared the brunt of the attacks.<\/p>\n

No, The Godfather: Part III is not on the level of the others, but is pretty damned good based on its own merits and is a capable mob epic to conclude the franchise satisfyingly.<\/p>\n

The central theme is Michael’s continued desire to leave the mafia and religion, and the Catholic Church are central themes of the film.<\/p>\n

Some backstory to the making of the film; Coppola had a non-expiring offer to create a third installment to the saga ever since 1974 when Part II was released.<\/p>\n

Having had a financial crisis, 1990 was the time Coppola agreed to do the follow-up.<\/p>\n

The ever-crucial role of Mary (now a coming-of-age young lady) was to be played by Julia Roberts, who dropped out. Winona Ryder was then cast and bailed at the very last minute.<\/p>\n

Out of necessity, Coppola’s daughter Sofia was cast and had little time to prepare or much acting experience (she would later become an acclaimed director, which better suited her talents).<\/p>\n

In a similar fashion to the other epics, a big event launches the film, as Michael (Pacino) is named Commander of the Order of Saint Sebastian in a lavish ceremony at St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral.<\/p>\n

It is revealed that Michael is approaching age sixty and semi-retired, leaving his business dealings mainly to Joey Zasa in New York, who has ravaged what the Corleone family had once built.<\/p>\n

Many characters- Kay, Mary, Tony, and Connie, are re-introduced, and new characters such as Vincent Mancini (Andy Garcia) and Don Altobello (Eli Wallach) are introduced, in a flurry of new storylines.<\/p>\n

It is like a big, grand, soap opera, with wonderful, rich, writing.<\/p>\n

I was immediately impressed by the neat cinematography- the camera captures wind-swept leaves and an artistic introduction to the film, as well as either mentioned or appearing in cameo roles, small characters from the first two films- a great touch in continuity and history.<\/p>\n

Coppola does a fantastic job of providing little updates on these characters during a party. For example, we learn that Vincent is the deceased, illegitimate son of Sonny, his mother being Lucy Mancini, who appears in a scene. (Clever viewers will remember Sonny and Lucy’s torrent affair in the bathroom during The Godfather-it is suggested that this produced Vincent).<\/p>\n

It is mentioned that Tom Hagen (Robert Duvall) has died, though his wife and son appear, and Coppola treats us to a myriad of flashbacks (Apollonia, a young Michael, and Kaye).<\/p>\n

These nuances make The Godfather: Part III filled with cool little aspects that fill the loyal viewer with warmth.<\/p>\n

The main story- Michael takes Vincent under his wing- and strives to steer the family clear of criminal ties- is interesting, if not spectacular. Connie rises from a battered mafia wife, raising kids, to a major player in the family, just as women progressed from the 1940s to the 1980s when the story takes place.<\/p>\n

She even feeds her godfather a poisoned cannoli!<\/p>\n

Michael, Vincent, and Connie involve themselves with the Catholic Church, bailing them out (the real-life Papal banking scandal is linked to the story) and making a deal with them for major shares of a real estate company, Immobiliare.<\/p>\n

In-fighting between the major crime mob bosses leads to several bloody massacres throughout the film, on the streets, in Atlantic City, and finally, in the Sicilian Opera house.<\/p>\n

The pairing of cousins and lovers, Vincent and Mary, never really works, nor does Bridget Fonda’s one-two-scene appearance as Grace Hamilton, a brief dalliance for Vincent. Also, the exclusion of the character of loyal family attorney Tom is a glaring omission.<\/p>\n

So the film does contain a few negatives.<\/p>\n

In a nutshell, The Godfather: Part III (1990) is a very good, epic, crime drama even without the Godfather name. To measure up to the glory of Parts I and II are impossible.<\/p>\n

With the bonus of having the rich Corleone family history and the intricate relationships between the characters, this makes for a treat for fans.<\/p>\n

There has not been a Part IV, nor should there ever need to be as the conclusion of the film is a satisfying wrap-up to the saga.<\/p>\n

Oscar Nominations:\u00a0<\/strong>Best Picture, Best Director-Francis Ford Coppola, Best Supporting Actor-Andy Garcia, Best Original Song-“Promise Me You’ll Remember”, Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Godfather: Part III-1990 Director Francis Ford Coppola Starring Al Pacino, Diane Keaton, Andy Garcia Scott’s Review #533 Reviewed December 3, 2016 Grade: B+ The Godfather: Part III, released in 1990, has traditionally been met with unwavering criticisms for not being as great as the two preceding epics. Sofia Coppola, who plays Mary- daughter of … Continue reading The Godfather: Part III-1990<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[149,8902,977,1697,1698,495,5094,194,984,6123,10205,1696,182,8973,1699,978],"tags":[285,8910,981,1701,1702,498,5098,195,985,6128,10207,1700,183,8978,1703,982],"class_list":["post-4890","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-1990-films","category-al-martino","category-al-pacino","category-andy-garcia","category-bridget-fonda","category-diane-keaton","category-eli-wallach","category-epics","category-frances-ford-coppola","category-gia-coppola","category-john-savage","category-mario-puzo","category-mobfilms","category-richard-bright","category-sofia-coppola","category-talia-shire","tag-1990-movie-reviews","tag-al-martino","tag-al-pacino","tag-andy-garcia","tag-bridget-fonda","tag-diane-keaton","tag-eli-wallach","tag-epics-2","tag-frances-ford-coppola","tag-gia-coppola","tag-john-savage","tag-mario-puzo","tag-mob-films","tag-richard-bright","tag-sofia-coppola","tag-talia-shire"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4890","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4890"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4890\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19384,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4890\/revisions\/19384"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4890"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4890"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4890"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}