The Godfather Part III (1990)

Directed by Francis Ford Coppola. Starring Al Pacino, Andy García, Diane Keaton, Talia Shire, Joe Mantegna, Eli Wallach, Sofia Coppola, George Hamilton, Donal Donnelly, Franc D’Ambrosio, Bridget Fonda, Richard Bright, Raf Vallone, Helmut Berger, Enzo Robutti, John Savage. [R]

Third installment in the Godfather saga is (per Francis Ford Coppola) not the closing chapter of a trilogy, but an epilogue to a two-part story told more than a decade-and-a-half prior. The story begins with an aged Michael Corleone attempting to sever all ties to the Mafia underworld and become fully “legitimate,” but, as he states after a rival wipes out nearly all of the American Mafia bosses at a hush-hush meeting, “Just when I thought I was out…they pull me back in.” He grooms his loose cannon nephew Vincent (García) to become an enforcer-slash-heir-apparent, reunites with estranged ex-wife Kay (Keaton), insinuates himself into a greedy wing of the Catholic Church, and plots against a traitorous don (Wallach). Although it falls far short of the greatness of the earlier films, suffering from storytelling flaws (it’s easy to follow the general flow of the narrative, but the details and motivations are too convoluted and/or rushed over) and questionable casting decisions (Hamilton as what is essentially the replacement for absent Robert Duvall’s Tom Hagen character, uncharismatic Sofia Coppola in the key role of Michael’s daughter and Vincent’s cousin-lover, etc.), there’s still operatic power in the grand crime family tragedy. In scenes as varied as Michael’s nostalgic tour of Sicily with Kay, and a daring murder during the San Gennaro street festival, there are too many compelling moments to dismiss; even in diminished form, it’s still a satisfying wrap-up to a brilliant cinematic story. Has been tinkered with after the fact, and released multiple times at differing lengths, including a 2020 cut that was retitled: The Godfather, Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone.

79/100