Why Sofia Coppola

Everyone knows why Francis Ford Coppola picked Sofia to play Mary, because they are related, but honestly, couldn't he have given her some acting lessons? In the movie she seemed so emotionless and monotone.

I'll be very frank about this. I think all those who have criticized Sophia couldn't act their way out of a paper bag. In all the criticisms about Sophia, never has anyone actually cited one scene let alone several scenes to back up their criticism. Why don't you give it a try?

OK she could've shown a little more emotion when she died, and when she first talk to vincent

Winona Ryder was selected for the role of Mary, but she had to drop out of the role after some disease? flu I think?

FFC didn't have the time to look for another actress so he chose his daughter, some say her perfomance was bad because she was forced to do it by her father...

In a scene that's supposed to be very sensual, making the gnocchi with Vincent, instead of being sexy, she just wants to make me hurl.

I suppose that could've been her problem

Come on her performance in Part III wasn't that bad...
She was in Part I and II...
so she decided to be in III and the future IV!

Is it possible that FFC made the character less sexual after Winona dropped out ? Sofia was only 18 at the time and Andy Garcia was already in his 30s. Maybe FFC couldn't bring himself to watch his little girl in that light.

Yeah, I wouldnt want my daughter kissing some 30 year old man.But that kinda is his problem and if i were in his situation it would be my problem and i would get over it.

It's not like he didn't know the storyline. If he was uncomfortable seeing his daughter in that light, then he shouldn't have cast her in the part.

exactly even though it was on short notice, he should have started looking earlier and always have more than one understory whether its a play or not

So, she meets Vincent and should say something emotional like "Hey cuz, I don't care about the genes, let's do it right here. My dad gets awards all the time. To hell with him, the little kids and other guests. I want you now baby. Strip"


Or... Okay, she's shot through the heart. Let me see. She's supposed to say something emotional such as "Darn, I've been shot through the heart, my dress is ruined, and now I won't be able to attend the after-opera party where I'll make a last play for Vincent. I'm really ticked!" Madonne!

How about EVERY scene that she had a part of. She's a terrible actress.

Hey, SC, tell us how you really feel, OK? Stop holding back.

ok she shouldnt have said that but most people usually scream when they die. and to me her scenes were just plain boring

I can't do that.... FFC might one day read these boards.

There's about 600,000 heart attacks every year in the US alone. How in the world do you find the time (not to mention the speed) to get around to each of them to hear their screams. Kudos!

ok well i take that back

i THINK most people scream when they get shot

Olivant writes: "I'll be very frank about this. I think all those who have criticized Sophia couldn't act their way out of a paper bag."

True, but is it reasonable to require someone to be a better actor/actress in order to be in a position to criticize her? When Tiger Woods' coach criticizes his performance, that criticism is not invalidated by the fact that the coach never could and never will come within hailing distance of outplaying Tiger under any circumstances.

If I'm not mistaken, Pacino has gone on record saying Sophia is a dreadfully bad actress. That's good enough for me.

But one needn't be a Pacino or an expert film critic to see how lackluster a performance Sophia Coppola put in. It's hard to decide on her worst scene, but I'll go with the one where Mary, Michael, and Anthony are walking together, and she screams out, "No dad" after the Don tells her she can't see Vincent anymore. Comical!

Well, having raised five daughters and having had each one of them tell me No on numerous occasions, it sounded pretty authentic and definitive to me.

Your experience of fatherhood is something I haven't had, and so I won't take issue with the way the scene in question resonates with your experience.

As an aside, all of this reminds me of a great passage in the novel:

"So you've taught me everything else. Tell me how to say no to people in a way they'll like." The Don moved to sit behind the big desk. "You can't say 'no' to the people you love, not often. That's the secret. And then when you do, it has to sound like a 'yes.' Or you have to make them say 'no.' You have to take time and trouble. But I'm old-fashioned, you're the new modern generation, don't listen to me."

Do you mean to tell us that he doesn't already?

I find that hard to believe. We have lots of GF stars here on the boards. Just the other day I was discussing with Sophia the best ways to appear constipated while on screen. She had LOTS of suggestions.

True, but they're not trying out for a movie. Just because you criticize someone's bad performence, doesn't mean you have to be better than them to know that they suck. After so many movies and comparisons, you can set in your mind the norms of good and bad acting. Therefore how I act, and how someone else acts is entirely different. I've watched all kinds of movies, and despite the fact I may not be the greatest actor, I can still distinguish the difference between what's good, and what's crap. Besides, if I know that I'm a bad actor, I won't star in movies.



I believe a few scenes have been cited; one being her death scene. She was dispassionate and made her death unbelievable. Hell, if it wasn't for Pacino's performence, the fact that she died probably would never hit some viewers until the second or third viewing. I think over all, in part III, Sofia Coppola's just a cheesy actress. I can site almost any scene she's in to back up these facts, including, "I love you, cuz", "I'll give you a hint, he's Italian", etc. So, my citing for determing Sofia's performence: GFIII. If only her character would have died earlier in the movie.

Can't we all just agree that the majority of people think she's a terrible actress? I think she is.

I'm actually jealous of those who think her performance was good, or at least good enough, because if I felt that way I might have liked Godfather 3 more.

I'll bet... its painfully apparent she didn't give a moving performance in "Part III".

He never 'runs' out.

If there is a Godfather Part IV movie I think Kelly Cuoco would be a good selection for a lead actress. She is a good actress and is very attractive.


http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?z=y&EAN=9781413704761&itm=1

Just in case you didn't know, there is a Godfather IV discussion forum right here on these boards.

http://www.gangsterbb.net/threads/ubbthreads.php?ubb=postlist&Board=9&page=1



Don Cardi

Tony, I don't know if you've ever fought in combat as I and a couple of other Board members have. But plenty of times ee've seen our share of guys shot and I can only think of one time when any of the ones I saw manifest any "passion" when shot in a vital organ or, as another Board member posted, scream or make any audible sound beyuond a moan. Talk with a doctor or triage or emergency room nurse and ask them about shock. Then discuss victim passion with them.

I think FFC wanted to give his daughter a chance. A great one indeed. But I guess after GF3 even Sophia realized she was a terrible actress. She in fact turned into a director. And she's doing very well! Everybody needs to find their way professionally wise. Bottom line is let her alone. Being a crappy actress is not the worst sin of all!

I think she gives probably the worst performance EVER. Literally. At least in a major motion picture.

As I've posted before, I saw GF III in the theatres and, by the end, the crowd was laughing out loud at every one of her lines.

Kind of took the poignancy out of her death scene.

Close, but I think Eli Wallach saved her in the same movie.
Also the guy who co starred with John Wayne in the Green Berets was pretty bad...David Jansenn I think.

Worst acting performance?

Bruce Jenner in Grambling's White Tiger

and even more. i always liked every second i watched of GF until i saw three. and not just mary, but i didnt like the way michael died either, to me if he was such a great man, or so powerful Mario puzo could've made him die at least in his bed. i just dont get what happened with III. maybe FFC and puzo lost their touch

Thank you for pointing that out. Eli Wallach was terribly miscast.
Almost as laughable as Edward G Robinson in The Ten Commandments.

dont forget Jen lopez in gigli, yeah not so good

Hey, wait a second here. There WAS one part that I thought she was great in.

The part where she is strectching on the floor, talking to Affleck, giving an explaination of what a woman desires and ending it by using an explicit word describing a part of her anatomy.

A very sexy scene.



Don Cardi

well of course you'd like it

Ya know, I really wish people would get off this freaking dead horse. Sofia Coppolla did not do a real great acting job in GFIII. OK, fine, we get it. The movie is 15 years old now. Get over it.

You think Master Thespianess Winona Ryder, one of the great dramatic actresses of our age, would have done all that much better?? LMAO.

The part of Mary Corleone, as written, was simply not very interesting or complex a character.

Mary Corleone was supposed to be a spoiled, sheltered, rich brat, pampered by her mommy most of her life to keep her away from Gangster Daddy, who in turn overindulges her when he DOES get to see her, so needless to say Mary Corleone would probably have had a pretty oblivious "suburban princess" attitude, naive and not really very bright.

You ever hung around any 18-25 year-old "suburban princesses?" THEY ACT LIKE THAT. Like Valley Girls. "Like ohmigoddd, I am SOOO SUUUUURE!!" Shallow, vapid, selfish and not too bright. They believe in ponies and princes and Daddy buying them a new Corvette.

The biggest problem with the Mary Corleone character wasn't how Sofia Coppola played her -- it was a dull character to start out with.

Wouldn't be a normal man if I didn't. No need for a roll of the eyes.

Now back to the topic at hand, I've posted this several times in the past, but I'll say it again; George Hamilton's acting in Godfather III made Sofia Coppolla look like an academy award actress. Don't know how, who or what possessed the casting director to cast Hamilton in that movie. I despise him in that movie.



Don Cardi

Well, George Hamilton has about seven lines in the whole movie, how good or bad COULD he have been in it??

Thak you Enzo for your eloquence. You make the points that I've been trying to get across to some of these mamelukes.

Enzo, don't care if he had three lines in the movie. The part was totally miscast as far as I am concerned. And Hamilton, with his "hollywood" tan did a God awful job playing the part.
Keep in mind that this part was supposed to be a 'replacement' part for the Tom Hagen character. They could have done much better than casting Hamilton for a part like that.

When they cast the part of Frank Pentangeli in GFII, that character was a 'replacement' for the Clemenza character. They did a great job casting Gazzo for that part. He was almost as likeable, if not more likeable, than the Clemenza character.

The same cannot be said for the part of Hamilton.


And what's with everyone rolling the eyes here in the last few posts? Maybe it's time for you all to go and have your eyes checked.

Don Cardi

Actually I think FFC knew what he was doing when he tapped Hamilton for the character -- he wanted somebody with an image of being an airhead pretty-boy to play the B.J. Harrison character, as he had done with Troy Hamilton playing Merle Johnson in GF II -- because he wanted to make the point that rather than going with a trusted, experienced guy who really knew what was going on, as he had with Tom Hagen, Michael was now entrusting the family's "legitimate" legal business to a guy who was all image, no substance.

My own feeling is they simply should have recast the part of Tom Hagen, if they couldn't re-sign Duvall to do it -- signed Michael Moriarity or I suppose maybe Ed Harris to play it (although Harris would have been too young). Gene Hackman could have carried it off too, although he probably would have wanted more money than Duvall to do it.

Whether Hamilton was FFC's first choice or not, I always thought that by casting Hamilton FFC was trying to emphasize Mike's efforts to go legit by employing a "white bread" lawyer that would appear white bread to the audience.

Personally, I always thought Coppola was a horrible nepotist. I mean, talk about a movie about family! He's got like everyone related to him in the movie in one way or another. I am not sure how much the overall film quality suffered due to the fact that most of his family were amateurs, but I definitely find it hard to believe that there were no other qualified persons for the parts. If there is a Godfather remake, and they let Coppola touch it, I'm sure we will see Nick Cage and the next generation of Coppolas in it somewhere.

He often refers to the trilogy as the biggest home movie of all time.
As far as him being a nepotist, I didn't hear anyone complain after the first 2 movies.

He used his father to make the music which was outstanding, his sister Talia Shire to play connie, and she was also great. His daughter was a last minute replacement, and as I have said a billion times she wasnt all that horrible.

I agree Hamilton was miscast, but I think Coppola for whatever reason put B list actors in bit parts. The guy who played Merle was some 50's pretty boy whose stage mane escapes me (his real name was Merle. Anyone know who I am talking about?

His name was Troy Donahue although his real name is Merle Johnson.

YES!! thats it. I think it is some kind of inside joke of FFC to use Troy and George in these parts. He also used comedian Don Novello to play the press agent.

His nepotism is one of the things that I like about FFC!! He had family members who could fill the role, so he went with them. Why not?

As for casting Sofia, perhaps he was blinded by a father's love. What dad wouldn't be??

John Wayne as Ghengis Khan may take the cake.

His greatest line in that movie was to Rita Hayworth when he said:

"you look beautiful in your wrath."