My Review (here, no link)

I don't watch a lot of TV, so I just finished The Offer over two years after its release. I couldn't miss a series about the making of The Godfather. The show is somewhat entertaining, but it has a comedic tone that doesn't fit the legacy of what I consider to be the greatest film ever made. It's like they were doing satire rather than taking the topic seriously. I have a feeling the levity was set by creator Michael Tolkin, known for satirical works. He was probably hired because he wrote Robert Altman's The Player, which also satirized Hollywood studios. I eventually tired of the comic tone and couldn't wait to finish.

The story is told from the producer's point of view rather than the director's or the writers', and so the Francis Ford Coppola and Mario Puzo characters are reduced to comic relief. They basically play C-3P0 and R2-D2. Most of the actors do shtick, but no one is more over-the-top than Giovanni Ribisi as mob boss Joe Gallo. Do people still consider him a good actor? He's terrible in this, and come to think of it he's terrible in almost everything he does now. Downton Abbey's Matthew Goode has fun doing an impression of legendary producer Robert Evans. But again, it's SNL shtick rather than acting.

Only Miles Teller and Juno Temple came to act in a drama. I wish the script could have accommodated their endeavors. I was particularly impressed with Temple. I knew the name and had seen her in a few minor roles, but here she pretty much steals the show as producer Albert Ruddy's secretary, who had an unsung though key role during the production of The Godfather. I want to watch more of her work.

The writers added a lot of fiction that I could spot a mile away as I was watching. Why? The real events are outrageous enough. If you have to add stuff to make this topic more interesting then you suck as a writer. In real life, the mafia wasn't as involved as this show would have you believe. There's a scene where mobsters essentially kidnap Ruddy and take him to a meeting with Gallo. In real life, the meeting had been planned for weeks. Another sequence has a fictional mobster attempt to muscle Ruddy for money. So on the day when the famous restaurant rub out scene in The Godfather is filmed, the fictional mobster gets rubbed out as well, eliminating Ruddy's problem. And of course, both murders are intercut in the same fashion as in the climax of the classic.

Lou Ferrigno plays Lenny Montana, the real-life mobster who played Luca Brasi in The Godfather. Lou is almost in every episode, though he's treated pretty much as an extra. That's something else I found annoying. After all the nonsense they make up, they couldn't add a few more lines for a legend who's been around for half a century? Come on!

Knowing The Godfather's troubled production, I had always thought it would make a great movie or series. Too bad this is what they came up with. I guess it eliminates the possibility of a better take, at least in the near future. The Offer is watchable at best, but way too cheesy and embellished for my taste.

Score: 5 out of 10