THE GODFATHER PART II (1974 ¢ ¢ 1/2
D: Francis Ford Coppola
Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Robert Duvall,
Diane Keaton, John Cazale, Talia Shire,
Lee Strasberg, G.D. Spradlin, Bruno Kirby
Continuing the saga of the Corleone family, from Don Vito's origin story in the first part of the 20th century to Michael's ruthless reign in the middle of it. If the original "Godfather" was a model of efficiency and restraint, this is the opposite of that. It's more ambitious and wide-ranging, but it goes on too long, and the soap-opera element, which was tightly controlled before, spills over. The stuff with Robert De Niro playing the young Vito is compelling, but when Michael (Al Pacino) and Kay (Diane Keaton) get into a screaming match over the fate of their marriage and their dead infant son, it starts to feel unhinged. The movie won an Oscar for best picture, and there are those who consider it to be better than the first film, but . . . it's not.
