My Thoughts On The Godfather

The Godfather was released in theaters in 1972, the year I was born. I think that being an infant is a very valid reason for never having seen this movie, don't you agree? Guess what else was released in 1972? 'American Pie' (the Don McLean ditty, not the Jason Biggs movie). Yep, The Godfather, American Pie and me. We all (gulp) turn forty this year. I like to think all three of us are holding up fairly well.

Want to know why I've never seen The Godfather? Because it breaks one of my cardinal rules of cinema: it is over two hours long (in fact, it's almost three hours long). My threshold for an enjoyable movie watching experience is under the two hour mark. I don't know why, but I've never been able to get into movies that are longer than 120 minutes. It's the main reason I've never seen 'Dances With Wolves', 'Schindler's List', or 'Gone With The Wind', but I digress.

All I knew about The Godfather was that it involved an offer someone couldn't refuse and a severed horse's head ends up in some old dude's bed. Not exactly my kind of movie, but it's on my list and that's an offer I couldn't refuse.

Heh, heh. Just a little Godfather humor there.

Even though I really liked this movie, I found parts of it confusing. Take the word 'Don' for example. For at least an hour and forty-five minutes, I thought Marlon Brando's character's name was Don.

Me: Wait … what? His name is Vito?
Husband: Yeah, what did you think it was?
Me: Duh, Don. Don Corleone. Don. Short for Donald.
Husband: He is a Don. His name's not Don.
Me: I could be a Don. Except I don't like violence and people bugging me for favors. Oh, and I don't have a cool accent.
Husband: Yep, that accent is all that's stopping you from being a Don.
Me: Precisely.

And I keep thinking that I was seeing Cheech Marin.

Me: Is that … Cheech?
Husband: What? Where? That guy? That's not Cheech.
Me: Pretty sure that's Cheech.
Husband: That's not Cheech.
Me: Yep. That's Cheech, in all of his Cheechness.
Husband: That's not Cheech. Are you high?
Me: No, but Cheech probably is.

Behold: Cheech and the guy that played Peter Clemenza in The Godfather:

                      

            


I'm telling you, give Cheech a fedora and a few extra pounds and they could be brothers.

Even though The Godfather is about a crime family and there's some violence, it didn't disturb me. In fact, there is only one scene in which I hid under my Wonder Woman Snuggie.

Husband: Why is your Snuggie over your head? There's nothing going on, he's just walking into the hospital.
Me: It's the music. That's whacking music. If ever I've heard whacking music, that's it. Somebody's gonna get whacked. I'm Snuggie-ing out 'til it's over.

There were some unexpected delights in The Godfather, like the connection to Prince. As you probably know, I just adore Prince. Who doesn't love a little 'Raspberry Beret' or 'Let's Go Crazy' or '1999'? Seriously. The man's a lyrical genius. So … what's the connection to The Godfather? Um, hello? Both The Godfather and Purple Rain had women named Apollonia. I'd like to think that this is no accident and Prince is a huge fan paying homage to the movie. My husband thinks that any connection between Prince and The Godfather is a figment of my imagination.

He could be right. He was right about the whole Cheech business. I'll have to give the subject some more thought.

To recap: Watched The Godfather. Loved it. And I get it. I get why people love this movie and put it on so many Greatest Films of All Time lists. It really is a good story and one of the main characters (nope, not going to tell you which one) changes quite dramatically over the course of the movie. I feel compelled to watch it again, only this time I won't be distracted by Cheech. But I will probably walk around talking like Don Corleone, making random people offers they can't refuse for days. Pin It Now!