'The Godfather Part III': Quit your griping, this movie has its merits

Andy Garcia in Godfather Part III

And now we come to the much maligned Godfather Part III.

Many fans of the first two films haven't even bothered to see this one, which in my opinion is a shame. Despite being nominated for best picture and director -- the third installment of the legendary gangster drama series has had its reputation trashed in the 20-plus years since it hit theaters, which is more than a little unfair.

No, the movie is not a masterpiece likes its two predecessors. It suffers in comparison because it was so clearly conceived as an attempt to cash in on earlier success. It also failed on the casting front, with the filmmaker's daughter Sofia Coppola giving a pretty awful performance in the pivotal role of Michael Corleone's daughter.

I have several thoughts on this. First off, I think it's quite interesting and progressive that director Francis Ford Coppola decided to accentuate the role of the daughter instead of the son in this trilogy which has largely been preoccupied with men. Sofia was very young when she made this film, essentially an amateur so she can't be entirely faulted for looking weak in comparison to heavyweights like Al Pacino, Andy Garcia and Diane Keaton.

Her part was originally supposed to be played by Winona Ryder, a fine actress, but also in my opinion, woefully wrong for the part. Ryder is decidedly not ethnic looking, it would be hard for me (and by extension audiences) to believe she is Sicilian, just one generation removed. I feel like she would have been just as distracting if albeit a more glamorous presence than Sofia.

Sofia Coppola in Part III

Sofia Coppola is an interesting looking actress, but she is not a traditional Hollywood beauty, yet she performs the role as if she is.

She delivers her lines with a sort of Southern California sultry drawl, even though she is supposed to be a New Yorker. She comes across as too modern for a film set in 1979 and she doesn't do much to modulate her voice, which is already pretty leaden.

That said, I have enormous respect for the fact that despite the critical drubbing she received after this film came out (her name became synonymous with Hollywood nepotism) she has since carved out a successful career as director with a signature style and as a bit of a fashion plate herself.

But in this film her presence is a problem. As is the backstory of Michael Corleone's machinations within the Catholic church. The plot there gets a little talky and convoluted and it lacks the pacing of the first two films.

Still, there is a lot to admire in this film.

Pacino gives a moving and sympathetic lead performance -- after becoming something of a monster in Part II, his Michael Corleone character starts to rediscover his humanity in this film but unfortunately it's too little too late.

Andy Garcia is quite terrific in the movie as well (he received a best supporting actor nomination). He takes a part which at first seems like an obvious attempt to rehash James Caan's Sonny Corleone character and makes it something more interesting -- a kind of composite of Sonny, Michael and Vito.

The film looks fantastic -- and there are some nice touches that tie the film back to the original film -- particularly the sequences in Sicily. Needless to say, this movie can only be appreciated by those who know and love the first two films.

I've also always found the finale very powerful. (Spoiler alert). It would be too easy to just kill off Michael Corleone but for him to lose his daughter -- what was most important to him, more so than his own life, really stuck with me. And Pacino's wail of agony -- just heartbreaking. The sequence which proceeds it -- an attempted assassination at an opera -- is expertly staged and edited.

The final image of his collapse and death in old age may not work for everyone, but it's ok by me. Which is sort of how I feel about Part III. It doesn't detract from the legacy of the series (in the way that say, the Star Wars prequels did). And it doesn't deserve all the hate it gets.