"I'll make him an offer he can't refuse."

The Godfather (1972)

Adam’s rating: ★★★★★ (out of 5)
Director: Francis Ford Coppola

Rated R. 175 min.

No. 2 AFI 100 reissue

No. 3 on the AFI 100

No. 2 on the IMDB 250

Starring: Marlon Brando, Al Pacino,
Robert Duvall, James Caan

"The Godfather" No. 3 on AFI 100;
No. 2 on AFI 100 (2008); No. 2 on the IMDB 250 

There's not a lot you can say about "The Godfather" that hasn't already been said.

And because of that, it seems like this film is the best choice to review as the first film as I resurrect "Dial N" for my film reviews. "The Godfather" is No. 2 on the AFI's 100 years ... 100 movies 10th anniversary edition, it's No. 3 on the AFI's 100 years ... 100 movies from 1997 and it's No. 2 on the Internet Movie Database's Top 250 films as voted on by users.

Almost everyone has seen the entire trilogy of movies and says the same thing: the first one is good, the second one is good and the third one is shit. Maybe it’s not said in those exact words, but that is the gist. And if you haven’t seen it yet then first, I want you to hold out your hand, face palm your head extremely hard and exclaim, “What have I been doing with my life?” Second, you need to rent the series. And third, you should probably stop reading this blog post so that I don’t ruin any of these films for you – even though this really is your own fault.

But as far as “The Godfather” goes, there are the iconic scenes, the iconic dialogue and the mafia lingo that is what all gangster films aspire to be. This is the one that started it all.

There is the horse’s head in the bed as retribution for upsetting Don Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando); there are the beatings and the shakedowns; Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) killing a crooked cop and a mafia kingpin in an Italian restaurant for the attack on his father; Sonny’s (James Caan) death at a toll booth on the highway and of course the climax at the end of the movie where the family settles all of its business through a series of mob hits.

Through it all, it seems that offers you won’t refuse are what live on through the film. Whether it’s Luca Brasi holding a gun to a guy’s head while promising him that either his brains or his signature will be on the a piece of paper before he leaves or film director Jack Woltz refusing to make Don Corleone’s godson, singer Johnny Fontane, his leading man only to have Woltz wake up and find his beloved horse’s severed head in his bed while he is covered in blood, what is etched in our memories about this movie is the manner in which the Corleone family does business.

The film’s final 20 minutes -- as Michael Corleone has authorized hits on the family’s enemies, while attending the baptism of his godson – are the film’s most powerful. As the Father performs a baptism mass in Latin and English, we watch as each enemy of the Corleone family is murdered to settle some score while the Father’s voice can be heard on the soundtrack. The scene reaches its height of theatrics, juxtaposition and power as Michael refutes the evils of sin, while the sins of his orders are being committed.

But the larger picture within this film is that this is director Francis Ford Coppola’s masterpiece. Sure, the screenplay is adapted from Mario Puzo’s novel of the same name, but Coppola brought the images to life and made the story more popular in American pop culture. The film’s legacy is that it sets the standard for what all mob movies aspire to be and it is also the one that all other mob films are compared to in terms of quality. And this one is of the highest quality. 

It’s possible that this film is quite possibly the best movie ever made, at least when it comes to American films.