An offer he can't refuse

This evening, a friend and I decided to break out the VCR and watch an old movie. And since she had just finished reading The Godfather, why not watch the movie? 

After struggling for a while, we got it set up (with “professional” help of course.) Popped that movie in and settled in for the three some hours it was going to be. 

I had zero expectations going in to it. I’ve never read the book and as far as I knew, the movie was about some Italian mobsters who wanted to save the world or end world hunger. I didn’t really know what the plot was. And I was pleasantly surprised. Kind of. 

I don’t often watch movies, and thus have high expectations for movies. Even if there are minor plot holes, a lack of reasonable decision making, or annoying characters, I probably won’t like the movie very much. But The Godfather was incredible. I’m sure there were plot holes, and from what my friend told me, they skipped a lot from the book, but I was just so sucked into what was happening that I didn’t notice. 

I suppose I also didn’t know that the movie wasn’t focused totally around the Godfather. Toward the beginning of the movie, it seemed as if he would be the main character. But he wasn’t. I’m not sure if I would have liked it as much if he had been the focus of the movie. With more characters highlighted, the dynamics stood out more in comparison to the characters who changed very little. I feel as if you got to meet all of the characters and that each was memorable in his or her own way.  

My favorite character from the movie would have to be Mikey Corleone, the son of the Godfather. He was the most dynamic character and I liked him throughout the whole movie. When he was the good guy making an honest living for himself, he was likeable. When he sacrificed/put himself in danger in order to avenge what was done to his father, he was admirable. Toward the end of the movie, I began to respect Mikey due to the role he took on. Other characters, like Sonny, I didn’t like in the beginning but grew to respect. Mikey, however, was a favorite all the way through. 

 It did take a while to get used to the accents, I’ll be honest. It’s not every day that you hear thick (questionably real) Italian accents. But I eventually started to actually understand what they were saying. 

My one complaint about the movie was the effects. When people would get shot (as they often did,) they would flop around for around five seconds. It was amusing, at the least. 

Overall, if I was a movie critic, I would give The Godfather an eight-point-five out of ten. Despite being about three hours long, it kept my attention and didn’t bore me with pointless scenes and boring sub-plots. It was a decent use of time, especially on this rare long weekend.