'The Godfather, Coda' tries to pull you back in by taking another whack at the trilogy's Fredo
Aside from the new title, which more closely reflects the tone that he and novelist/co-screenwriter Mario Puzo originally intended, Coppola has tinkered with the beginning and end, rearranging and editing some scenes. He has also trimmed 13 minutes from the movie, which still runs a characteristically epic two hours and 37 minutes.
Receiving a limited theatrical run in advance of a digital and Blu-ray release, the modestly revised film can't fix everything that ailed the original, beginning with the casting of Sofia Coppola, the director's daughter, in a pivotal role; and the absence of Robert Duvall, who opted not to return as consilgiere Tom Hagen due to a salary dispute. (George Hamilton filled the void, unremarkably, and seems to make a somewhat clearer contribution in this incarnation, if memory serves.)
"The Godfather" and its first sequel remain in the discussion among the greatest movies of all time, and the chronologically arranged "Godfather Saga" serves as a showcase of how neatly the latter's flashbacks of a young Vito Corleone (played by Robert De Niro) expanded the story.
The third movie, on the other hand, came 16 years later, and despite the kick of Al Pacino reprising the role of Michael Corleone and Andy Garcia's ferocious performance as Vincent, his brother's out-of-wedlock son, pales by comparison. It's by no means a disaster, but with expectations understandably sky high, not the final chapter for which one might have hoped.
Without breaking the two down shot for shot, Coppola's editing feels as if it accentuates ties to the earlier films. Yet there's only so much that can be done by rearranging pieces, and it's not the sort of significant makeover associated with celebrated "director's cuts," a la "Blade Runner" or "Brazil."
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