The Offer

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Thats all...There is a helleva lot of mediocre shows out there...This ones a gem, even if you aren't a Godfather aficionado this is just one great, incredible and best of all TRUE story. Its very well acted (especially the guy who plays Al Pacino) and I cant stand waiting for a week to catch the next episode (5 so far, 6 tomorrow). A total treat. A great show about making a classic movie, the kind that were made when Hollywood actually cared about its audience.

First off, Ruddy fixes everything. We don't know how he does it, they don't think it's necessary to tell us but he can fix anything (how the heck did he fix Redford's legal problems to get him to do his film?). It's super annoying and he's a severely unlikeable character (I have no idea how much of this is really like him, however he was one of the producers so I guess a lot). I love the Godfather so I really wanted this to be good. But it drags. It's repetitive and boring a lot of the time. There were a couple episodes I couldn't get through in one sitting. Some of the people are cast well and some are not. I loved the guy playing Pacino but my God, Pacino didn't look at the floor constantly. But man, they took what could have been a great story and made it boring. We never see any reenactments of the real film either, we see them about to start shooting, then the reactions of the Coppola and Ruddy. That sucked. Ruddy was seriously miscast too. Miles Teller was not good and I like Miles. But yeah, does make you want to watch the Godfather again and I probably watch it every couple years. But what a boring show.

The unfortunate part of this project is that they speak of it in hindsight. And much of it from producer Albert S. Ruddy's recollection. A similar tale had been told by Robert Evans. And Peter Bart. And Francis Ford. And so forth. So there is a nagging feeling that we are being told the tale from an unreliable narrator. That said, this is so caricature-driven. It may as well be a MAD magazine version of it. And perhaps that is their intention. The thing is, most people who are interested in the making of "The Godfather" likely heard or know more than the people involved. The ones who "lived it", to be honest, can only paint themselves out to be the hero of the story. Witness the pilot episode where Ruddy pitches "Hogan's Heroes" to Paramount executives only to have it become a smash hit. Then having the sand to go down to Mexico to leverage Robert Redford to be in some schlock motorcycle movie. Sure it's all true. Sure it's not as golden hued dreamy as this project would have you believe. Then there's Francis Coppola. As re-creations go, they're kind enough to paint him out to be more flower child then blustery know-it-all. Listen to any commentary track on his movies to hear how he claims everything he does is genius. As does Robert Evans in his book (about himself) "The Kid Stays In The Picture" Does it surprise you these men have died lonely? Any way, this is a little depressing. This is really a biopic of a few things...Mafia in Hollywood, Albert Ruddy, "The Godfather" and so forth. Unfortunately, that means the focus is spread too thin. A few laughable moments...Frank Sinatra threatening Mario Puzo is laughably bad. Doesn't look or sound like Frank in the least. Juno Temple as Bettye McCartt. How was it that she was privy to all this information and have men actually listen to her? I'm sure this is history re-writing itself for Ruddy to seem progressive. Obnoxious blow hards who spend their days playing make believe may only be interested to fans of the film. Otherwise, it may be confusing. Or a lackluster version of "The Last Tycoon"

It's hard to even describe how much I enjoyed The Offer. All I know is I wasn't expecting that. It's easily one of the most surprising shows I've ever seem. I'm not saying it the best I've ever seem just surprised by how much I liked it. After reading all the great reviews I thought it would be good but this show is beyond just good. I couldn't get enough. I binged the entire series over a weekend and was sad when it was over. The writing is as good as a tv show gets, the acting is great, and every episode is entertaining enough to hold your attention throughout the series. I'm a huge Godfather fan but you don't have to like or even know anything about it to enjoy this. It's just a little more interesting if you do. If you're looking for a new show to watch or binge then look no further. I promise you won't be disappointed!

This is now my favorite show. I think it helps to have seen The Godfather, be a fan and have interest in the circumstances in which the movie was made. I think those who think this is boring may have no such interest. With that out of the way, this show is awesome. Ive been having a hard time with cheap biopics made these days with the fake wigs and actors that don't even look like the people they portray. Such bombs are Winning Times and First Lady. The Offer looks genuine and the actors are all awesome and established. Try to find a photo of the real Mario Puzo and compare him to the actor. They look like brothers. Same with the Francis Ford Coppola character. I had no problem being fully immersed in the story. The first episode set things up real nice and I can't wait to watch more.

Oh man, is there anything good coming out anymore? I am a huge fan of the first two Godfathers and probably the best films ever made so when I recently saw a trailer for this I was so stoked, but that didn't last long. From the hammy caricature performances to the fake-looking sets to the bad dialogue I couldn't hang in for long. I had the same criticism of Sopranos that it was a bad version of previous Americano gangster films like Godfather and Goodfellas. If you can't do it better or differently don't do it at all. The cast wasn't very good, but Matthew Goode was good as Evans. Miles didn't resemble Al Ruddy one bit and looked way too young and immature for the part. Ruddy had a rough around his edge, a manly man, which Miles just doesn't have. Nora Arnezeder was way too pretty to play Francoise Glazer. Getting one thing wrong is forgivable, but not a majority. It was flash over substance. It looked like people dressing like the 70s, rather than BEING and LIVING the 70s. Could they have a make-up and wardrobe person that can get it right? Then the expositions dumping data and tidbits like Puza saying "I don't know what to write" and his girl saying "why don't you write the mafia story?" and of course, it was his wife that inspired him to write the book. I didn't buy any of it. The lighting was also terrible. Sometimes just not warranted and too stylized. In the end, they jammed too many characters and stories into this way too long series.

Myopic biopics are currently ubiquitous. A few of them are good, but most of them are mediocre to poor. Sadly, this falls into the latter category, no doubt the story is interesting to read about in a paragraph or two, but to hold an entire ten hours TV, not so much. The costumes, cars and other period paraphernalia are as one would expect, but the story and resulting dialogue is terminally trite and turgid.

I didn't really know what to expect from The Offer. Even though I love The Godfather as much as everyone else, I wasn't all the interested on how the film was made. I was wrong! After reading all the great reviews and seeing the great cast I thought I'd give it a chance. I'm absolutely blown away by how much I like this show. You don't have to be a fan of The Godfather or have even seen it to enjoy this show. It's not the best series I've ever seen but it's still a really good and interesting series. Miles Teller, Giovanni Robison, Matthew Goode and the rest of this fantastic cast all do an amazing job. If you have reservations like I did on how good a show about a a movie getting made can be...don't! I absolutely recommend this show!