Up until a few weeks ago I was one of the few people who had never watched The Godfather. I had always heard how great it was despite all of the violence and how I had to watch it, especially because I am Italian. I always shrugged it off and it stayed on my watch later list until one day I decided to prepare myself and watch it. I watched all three movies in three consecutive days. That led me to watching this film because it is directed by Sofia Coppola.
Going into the film, I did not have set expectations. I had seen this movie pop up in my recommended before, but it is not the kind of movie that I typically watch so I skipped past it. However, once I learned it was directed by Sofia, I decided I should give it a try and have an open mind.
After watching the film, I am pleasantly surprised. The directing was incredible. Each shot was well thought out and added to the plot of the story. The story and characters progressed seamlessly and I was always wondering when things would turn for the worst. I liked how the story was told with flashbacks, or flashes of the future, while also living in the present. The timeline kept me intrigued. Additionally, all of the actors truly brought the characters to life.
While I do not know much about the real story and real people that the movie is based on, I think Sofia did a great job at adapting it into a movie. Along with directing the film, she wrote the script. The casting was solid and while this is not meant to be a comedy, many of the scenes had humor laced into them. Sometimes I felt like just bursting out laughing because of how ridiculous the characters were acting or how I could not relate to them at all but still sympathized with them in a way. I felt like I knew the characters. I felt interweaved in the story. That is when I know the director and writer have done a good job.
Overall, toward the end of the movie, I started to zone out more. I felt like I knew what was going to happen. Out of the entire movie, the ending was my least favorite. But then again, from the beginning of the movie it can be assumed that Rebecca and her crew will get caught eventually and I was still entertained for the majority of the film. If you gave this movie a watch, what do you think about the ending? Did it leave you wanting more? Did it drag on too long or not long enough?
8/10
*Disclaimer: Making a movie is hard. Sometimes you have an idea and it is not interpreted how you intended it to be. All directors, producers, writers, and everyone on set should be proud at what they created and I do not want to diminish that. I just want to share my opinions so we can learn from movies and see what works and what didn’t.
Aloha Arianna 