VINCENT

I really liked Vincents character , i was happy the that the mike gave controle over 2 vinny, he looks like a good boss a lil crazy but in that buisness they have 2 i guess! What do you guys think of Vincent~!

One big contradiction:

The book explicitly states that Lucy Mancini is *not* pregnant with Sonny's child at the time of his death. Puzo must have gone along with setting this aside. A little Vincent would have made Lucy's Vegas adventures a bit different...

That said, Andy Garcia does quite the job. You think Mike Tyson got the ear biting idea here?

Vincent is a great character for the movie, and while the story dosent really conflict with his existence. He's an excellent gangsta. When he bites Zaza in his ear, this shows his ruthlessness, when he shoots the two thugs who break in his house, this shows his negotiating skills. Vinny was great.

Vincent makes a good juxtaposition with Anthony at that time in Michael's life. His positioning is one of the strengths of GFIII.
That said, Vincent isn't a very complex or well-developed character. We see him stepping in as Michael's successor toward the end. But contrast his ascent with Michael's development as the Don. No comparison. I got the feeling that once Mary was killed, Vincent just faded away.

I thought he just plain out sucked up to Garcia's fake accent to his bad acting to his not looking Sicilian to him not being well developed and there not being a need for him or GFIII.

Turnbull,

I am in agreement with GP on Andy Garcia in the role of Vincent. Whether or not the character was necessary in the film or not, I wonder what your opinion is of AG playing the part. I don't feel he fit in the Corleone family at all and was totally miscast. What's your view?

By the way, shouldn't this go in the GF Trilogy section??

I think Garcia actually fit the character Puzo and FFC wrote for him--a second-rate choice to succeed Michael. Garcia was shallow, vapid and vain, a two-dimensional character compared with, say, Sonny and Fredo. As such, he was a perfect fit with a modern Mafioso: an unworthy, self-centered successor to a real Don. This whole thread is beginning to suggest to me something I hadn't thought about before: what was Michael thinking when he decided to let Vincent get close to him and to succeed him? I'm thinking it had something to do with Anthony telling him just moments before Vincent made his appearance at the party: "I will always be your son. But I will never work for you." It may also have something to do with Michael losing it in his dotage. To repeat something Solozzo said in GF: "The Don...was slippin'."

He was pretty steamed when she got shot.But thats weird a big tough guy who is the don having relations with his cousin.(if I had the face that barfs I'd put it her)

First of all welcome to the boards pinche88. I thought Vincent would have been a good Don. He listens well to Michael (to precious advices), brave (eliminated Zasa himself with his own initiative) and obedient (followed his uncle to let go of Mary). A good follower can become a good leader. Downside to his strong qualities is his temper.

I totally agree with you The Italian Stallionette
of him being a miscast. From the very beginning of the film he was a complete stranger (not even invited to the party, lol). I always thought Anthony would have been the successor but oh well.

DC

Hi Dan Corleone,

Yes, I could never figure out why they didn't have Anthony or one of Sonny's boys go into the business. It would have been more interesting to see Anthony give up his career and become like his father. Vincent sort of just came in as a stranger to the entire audience and didn't seem part of the family.

I also found the storyline between Vincent and Mary, his cousin kind of disgusting and unecessary. That made the story and Vincent even less appealing to me.

...but wouldn't that just be like when Michael took over from vito, firstly saying he would never be in the business and then all of a sudden getting drawn into it...

Theoretically, if Michael had made the family legitimate, why would there be need for a new Don.

Yeah what was FFC thinking, hahaha. It would have been at least better if Winona Ryder had played the part but oh well she got sick and delayed the shooting so what can they do right? I guess that is one of the weak points in GF III, the grotesque/incest love story. One of Hagans or Sonnys siblings could have been utilized but I guess they went the other way.

DC

The variety of opinions about GF3 and the characters - especially Vincent - indicates that this effort was weak as compared to GF and II. I liked the character of Vincent, but having him rise to the top so fast was a bit unrealistic. He goes from being a leather-jacket, boorish thug to Mr. Suave-Tuxedo-Businessman-Godfather in an instant. Where were the rest of the "family". No suitable successors? Just this bastardo. or was all the family muscle atrophied from their attempts at legitimacy?
What's the difference between this board and the Godfather Trilogy? This is my first look here and the topics seem the same?

Hi,
Vincent was what made GF3 IMHO. Andy Garcia's accent didn't hurt the movie. We could always assume that Vincent spent alot of time in Spanish Harlem and picked up the dialect. Andy also played an Italian in The Untouchable and was convincing in the role.

Paul

Actually, I was pretty unimpressed w/ all the children in GF3. That love story was SICK. And what happened w/ Michael's children? For being the Don's kids they didn't have very strong personalities, and I didn't get the feeling they were very smart either.

Did anyone else think Andy has a strong resemblence to Pacino?

Hi,
I think Andy had a stronger resemblence to Robert DeNiro in GF2.

Paul

Interesting. I thought Mary and Anthony were smart, strong, and independent. The only problem Mary had was she was naive.

I think Vincent wasnt too bad, But I would have much liked more to see one of Sonny's real sons take over the family buisness like Frank or Santino Jr. This would have gave the story a little more eliment and would have been less confusing. I also didnt like the fact that Coppola let his daughter play such an important role, It kind of makes me a little sore at Coppola for doing so because I beleive part 3 as a whole could have been so much better without the bad acting of Mary. The plot itself for the movie wasnt too great, I wasnt feeling the whole big buisnesse's and chruch ordeal, all very confusing. Part 3 either should have never been made or should have been something else completely, like part 1 stay the same, part 2 be all about Vitos rise to power and the Corleone children growing up, and part 3 be like Michaels scenes in part 2, all about him in Vegas and being a ruthless Don and the very end of the Trilogy would just be him sitting lonely with all the memories of his past. Would have been CLASSIC!

Hi,
Coppola was forced to use his daughter after Winona Ryder walked out on him and the production due to illness.

Paul

i thought the same thing before. it seemed real odd. at first, it seemed that michael didn't really know vincent as connie said, "sonny's boy" to mike. but then, it's apparent that vincent and michael had contact because mike said he offered a job to vincent, but vinnie took a job w/ zaza.

then, after biting zaza's ear. mike takes in vincent very quickly and vincent is there by mike's side all the time.

the whole relationship felt phony and awkward. then, the incredibly awkward scene IMO when michael annoints vincent as don.

I liked Vincent mainly because I like Andy Garcia, but I admit he did seem miscast. I found a lot of GF3 boring. The relationship between Vincent and Mary was unnecessary and frankly disgusting. I did like the parts where Mike & Kay interacted.

It is an awkward scene, Puppeteer. But it occurs to me that it might be understood in the context of a major subtheme of GFIII: how Vincent and Michael used each other.
Vincent, egged on by Connie, forced himself on Michael so that he could move up in the world. He crashed the party, probably because he (or more likely, Connie) knew Zasa would be there bad-mouthing him. Instead of accepting reconciliation with Zasa, he bit his ear. This forced Michael to choose between protecting Vincent or leaving him to Zasa--Michael probably would have preferred to have nothing to do with either Vincent or Zasa. Michael seemed amused to have Vincent around as a general gofer and protege. But after the Atlantic City shootup and Michael's seizure, Vincent saw another opportunity to ratchet up his career--by enlisting Neri's and Connie's support to kill Zasa while Michael was unable to stop him. That act forced another inimical choice on Michael: dump Vincent or promote him. Meanwhile, by romancing Mary, Vincent was trying to force Michael to accept him as a real family member instead of an illegimate hanger-on. But by that time, Michael realized that his "true enemy" wasn't a common pazzo like Zasa, but a dangerous combination of Altobello, Lucchesi and various nefarious figures associated with Immobiliari and the Vatican Bank. He also realized that his own failing health was a big handicap. His life was in danger. He also was terribly frustrated: "Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in." Michael really wanted out. How to stay out? He anointed Vincent as his successor. That way, Vincent would take the responsibility of protecting Michael, take the risks and be the target. Oh, and there was a quid pro quo: Vincent had to dump Mary. If things had worked out the way Michael wanted, the Vatican would have approved the Immobiliari deal, Michael would have been completely legit (and filthy rich), and Vincent, after killing Michael's enemies, would have become the heir to the semi-legit and non-legit remnants of the Corleone empire, the lightning rod for Michael's criminal former associates and potential enemies--and history as far as Mary was concerned.

Hi,
Seeing Vincent bite Zasa's ear always make me laugh. It also is part of the act in the opera. Life imitates art. Also the puppet scene in which the girl dies is the same as Mary's death at the end of the film. Zasa called Vincent a Bastardo and Vincent reacted like his father would. This is in the movie so the audience can see the parallels between both men, Sonny and Vincent.

I think Andy Garcia is so hot. Sorry, but I just had to say that.

How'd I miss this? Moving to Godfather Trilogy forum since this has nothing to do w/ the DVD in particular...