MovieChat Forums > The Godfather Part III (1990) Discussion > Pacino is the issue here

Pacino is the issue here

posted 12 years ago by kgb383
52 replies | jump to latest

Did anyone get the feeling that Pacino had trouble capturing the essence of his performance from the first two films? In I and II, Michael had a sort of steely, remote nature. There was hardly any emotion at all coming from him. Even his body language was subdued and scarce. Pacino could pull that off then, but by the 90s, Pacino had moved into his loud and boisterous phase. He simply wasn't the same actor. You could tell that he was having trouble keeping it subdued in part III the way he did in the previous movies.

His body language is totally different in this movie. His dialogue is different (cursing, jokes, smiling, laughing, screaming, impassioned monologues). The effect is less Michael Corleone and more Pacino. I get that it's supposed to be an older Michael, perhaps worn out and more embattled with his own demons. It's still way too much of a difference in my mind. He doesn't feel anything like the Michael from the first two films.

Even more than Sophia's terrible acting, it's this thing about part III that really sets this movie apart from the first two.

[–] bobbynynex (1505) 5 years ago

in part 1 and part 2 the plot was good enough and had amazing other characters for michael to play the subdue role. Here he's the center piece and the only centerpiece and therefor he needs to overact to compensate. but i agree his character changed.