Considering Hollywood was essentially setting Francis up for failure- i'd say GF III was damn good-in fact its my favorite of the trilogy. I have the Vanity Fair article that FFC makes referene to in the DVD commentary, and boy is it rough on him. Te article came out in May before the movies release in December, and it gets nasty. It critisizes and exploits everything from his weight to Diane and Al's romantic fights,etc. it is just ridiculous how cruel hollywood was to this film.

About Sofia Coppola-Paramount Pictures had three options when Winona Ryder dropped out-1.rewrite the entire movie to make it age appropriate for Madonna to play the role, 2.stall the production of the movie till someone like Laura San Giacomo (yuck!) could make it to the set essentially raising the budget to enormous heights, or 3. use Sofia. It was a no-win situation-and as rumor goes, Madonna personally called Sofia and conceded the role to her so that the other cast members would not throw a hissy fit to get her on the set. The entire cast treated Sofia like crap leaving her in tears every day. Maybe if they'd been more respectful and supportive, the media wouldn't have had a field day with her.

In regards to her acting, i actually think her performance in the last scene is boarderline brilliant. and what i just don't understand that people dont seem to get is that is exactly how mary corleone was intended to be!! a naive, awkward girl of 18!!

Andy Garcia is wonderful in this movie. With all due respect you are nitpicking on that one.

Talia Shire gave the performance of a lifetime, and the addition of the connie character to family business added a new depth to the plot.

George Hamilton was a very good supporting character, and it is fairly well documented Bridet Fonda was cast as a likely set up for the now defuct project of GF IV.

It is a very artsy film-this i know-which makes it singularly less commercial. But the beauty this movie creates is just so emotional.