I could not refuse to see The Godfather

So I finally saw The Godfather, in it’s 50th anniversary theatrical re-release. My question is: What’s more overrated — The Godfather or Lawrence of Arabia?

Both are essential viewing, and recommended on that point if no other. The Godfather is hodge-podge storytelling, and overlong for no reason. The rambling, incohesive plot gave me a new appreciation for The Irishman, which at least had a story through-line.

Some scenes are brilliant and iconic; horsehead anybody? I love the entry scene where various parties are seeking audience with the Godfather. Akin to Lawrence of Arabia, the score is beautiful and timeless. But much more is amateurishly executed, for example a plywood tabletop that the camera just keeps staring at, shouting: “this movie’s director is way way out to lunch!”

Other parts are straight cheese, such as the appearance of a Las Vegas casino owner who may as well been cast as Morty’s Del Boca Vista adversary Jack Klompus on Seinfeld. That is, pure comedic caricature.  But Seinfeld is trying, very successfully, to be funny. The Godfather is trying, much less successfully, to be serious.

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Growing up, I frequently referenced Leonard Maltin’s Movie Guide. In that pre-internet age, I considered it the comprehensive source for movie info, though I may have disagreed at times with Maltin’s evaluations. He wrote, as I recall, that Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now was a “flawed masterpiece” — a term that stuck in my head. Now compare to Coppola’s The Godfather, which I don’t see a lot of critics calling flawed. Just the masterpiece part.

And that’s why I have a blog. The Godfather is not even in the same league as Apocalypse Now, yet critics collectively don’t understand that.

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For the iconic bits, and because it’s essential, a reluctant 6/10.
 
Comparison Notes: Miller’s Crossing, Donnie Brasco, Goodfellas, L.A. Confidential, Chinatown, The Big Sleep, Raging Bull, M*A*S*H (the movie, not the TV show), Bound (which incidentally I caught a chunk of recently, and reiterate my strongest recommendation. What a fun, thrilling movie!), The Drop, all other mob movies

5 Years for Widows — Was it worth the wait?

To produce Widows, the living director (to distinguish from the late actor) Steve McQueen waited five years after making the best film of 2013, 12 Years a Slave.  Was that Kubrik-esque gap to foretell a film of the magnitude or gravitas of 12 Years?  Hardly.  Next to the grand 12 Years a Slave, McQueen’s latest project is a severe letdown.  The gulf between the two films is probably explained by their respective writers: McQueen for Widows, someone else for 12 Years.

But 12 Years a Slave is a high bar.  On an absolute scale, Widows is a good movie.  It has some structural issues, and the whole “heist” sequence brings the film down.  On the plus side, it features solid dramatic timbre, and there’s a good sense of watching real characters in real, desperate situations.  Lots of pluses, lots of minuses.

So, considering all the story elements, this could have been a lot worse.  Conversely, though, if those story elements are switched up, Widows comes out much higher.  6/10

Twin Journeys of the Soul

Marisa Tomei

OCCASIONALLY I PAIR movies in my mind. L.A. Stories are a definitive example — though suddenly I’m thinking Grand Canyon could make it a trifecta.  Another two movies released almost exactly a year apart are bound forever in my imagination.  They are both deeply personal, heart-wrenching voyages by tortured souls — and two of the most powerful films to come out in recent years.  And in each case, surprise surprise — they received (mostly) the recognition they deserved.

The first was Mickey Rourke’s triumphant comeback The Wrestler (2008), a sort of latter-day antithesis to Rocky.  Thinking about it now, it strikes a note or two of the Scorcese classic Raging Bull — except Rourke’s character in The Wrestler is much more sympathetic than De Niro’s — you root for him to succeed and find love and happiness, whereas you feel Jake LaMotta pretty much gets what he deserves.

Roger Ebert’s 4-star review is excellent; two snippets:

Mickey Rourke plays the battered, broke, lonely hero, Randy (“The Ram”) Robinson.  This is the performance of his lifetime, will win him a nomination, may win him the Oscar.  Like many great performances, it has an element of truth….  This is Rourke doing astonishing physical acting.

I cared as deeply about Randy the Ram as any movie character I’ve seen this year.  I cared about Mickey Rourke, too.  The way this role and this film unfold, that almost amounts to the same thing.  Rourke may not win the Oscar for best actor.  But it would make me feel good to see him up there.  It really would.

I couldn’t agree more.  Tragically, the Academy once again robbed their treasured statuette from the movie and performances that most deserved it. The exceptionally lame Slumdog Millionaire won the top prize that year; The Wrestler, an infinitely better movie, wasn’t even nominated.  Sean Penn won the acting prize that year for Milk, which I don’t have as big a problem with, though, again, The Wrestler was the better movie.  Luckily and as consolation, The Wrestler remains available for us to embrace.  Such a great film.

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Jeff Bridges and Maggie Gyllenhaal

The following December arrived another in a long string of successes for Jeff Bridges, one of my favorite actors: Crazy Heart.  I was a little reluctant to watch this movie, and ended up enjoying it much more than I expected — this is a warm and delightful film, but like The Wrestler, deals with an aging man exorcising his demons along a tortuous path.

About a fading country music star, both Crazy Heart’s story and its music resonated with me.  Songs were performed à la Walk The Line by Bridges and supporting cast.  Roger Ebert, again with his highest rating:

One of the ways the movie might have gone wrong is if the singing and the songs hadn’t sounded right. They do. Bridges has an easy, sandpapery voice that sounds as if it’s been through some good songs and good whiskey, and the film’s original songs are by T-Bone Burnett and Stephen Bruton (who died of cancer in May at Burnett’s home). Bridges conveys the difficult feelings of a singer keeping his dogged pride while performing in a bowling alley.

I do not agree with a number of detractors who claim that the story is not particularly original.  I think it is, but either way, it’s the way the story is told, which is masterfully.  Like The Wrestler, I highly recommend the charming, soulful, and lovely Crazy Heart.

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