Last night during a CNN Town Hall, Ted Cruz was asked by Anderson Cooper about his favorite movies. He loves The Princess Bride, of course, but what else? The Godfather—"actually, all three of the Godfathers"—prompting a surprised reaction from Anderson Cooper, who claimed that he's "never met anyone who liked the third Godfather."*
I'm sure Anderson has never met anyone who will admit to liking it, but that's not the same as never having met anyone who liked it. Reception to The Godfather Part III has been remarkably varied over the years—people seem to forget that it wasn't originally considered an abomination. Indeed, it was nominated for seven Oscars at the 1991 Academy Awards and has a 70 percent fresh rating from top critics on Rotten Tomatoes.
Sometime after its release, though, the tide turned: it became fashionable to talk about how terrible it was, how big a failure. Its length and intricate, Church-business plot were mocked, as were some of the performances. Which, okay, fine. Sometimes exuberance from critics and the Academy looks circumspect in later years. (Cough Crash Cough.)
Still! I for one salute Ted Cruz's bravery, his willingness to take an unpopular stand in the harsh media spotlight. Because he's right! The Godfather Part III is good.
It's not great. It's not as good as either of its predecessors—not even close. The Godfather and The Godfather Part II are two of the ten best films ever made; not being as good as they were was almost to be expected. The Godfather Part III isn't even the best gangster movie to be released in 1990—that's Goodfellas. And it has undeniable problems, first and foremost the casting of Sofia Coppola as Mary Corleone. I don't care for much of the opprobrium heaped upon Sofia over the years—she took one for the family, filling in for Winona Ryder, who dropped out at the last minute—but her, ah, inexperience is glaring. The Immobiliare plot is byzantine, but then, what Godfather plot isn't?
So yeah, there's some bad. But there's so much good. Andy Garcia's turn as Sonny's bastard, Vincent, is among my favorite in the whole trilogy: crippled by rage but being groomed by the cerebral Michael, Garcia brings a real vibrancy to the part and the film. I don't know how you can't like Joe Mantegna's Joey Zasa, or watching Connie (Talia Shire) assume her place as the power behind the throne. The helicopter massacre! And it brings the trilogy to a suitably tragic close, with the sins of the father being visited upon his children.
The most accurate criticism of The Godfather Part III is that it's unnecessary. Which, fair. The world would've kept spinning if Michael Corleone had spent the rest of eternity gazing balefully out onto the watery grave of his murdered brother. But being unnecessary is not the same as being "bad." Indeed, even unnecessary films can be good—as The Godfather Part III helpfully proves.
*It's interesting that everyone's focusing on the Godfather Part III part of his answer rather than the naked pander to evangelicals that comprised the final part of his answer, when he told Anderson Cooper he loved the movie Amazing Grace. Even when I mostly agree with Cruz he manages to come off as ... calculating.