It begins in the late sixties, an exciting time in the American movie business, on the rubicon of the early seventies, one of the greatest eras for Cinema. It's a show made by Paramount, about a Paramount picture, with many scenes in the famous Gower Street Paramount studios, telling the story of how "The Godfather" came to be.
Many people, myself included, consider "The Godfather" one of the greatest films ever made. With all this rich material, the show is off to a good start. First episodes are always awkward because you have to fit in a lot of basic character introductions and exposition.
I felt the writers were struggling to fit it all in here. They have to introduce the producers, Albert Ruddy and Robert Evans, the writers Mario Puzo and Francis Ford Coppola, and real-life gangster Joe Columbo and set up the story's basic premise. That's a lot to accomplish in an hour.
The cast so far is competent but not bowling me over. It's too early to tell, though. I did find Matthew Goode, playing Robert Evans, a bit annoying, but let's see how it goes. The sets and costumes are also competent, and the cinematography is very good.
There are dozens of easter eggs strewn throughout this episode, both to movie fans of the era and Coppola fans. One I enjoyed was seeing Coppola handling his wind-up 16mm camera. His "home movies" shot on set are pretty well known to Godfather fans.
So far, I'm definitely in for another episode. The show moves along pretty quickly and does not pull punches on some of the known issues associated with "The Godfather," like how Frank Sinatra reacted to the book.
The series is ten episodes, released every Thursday night on Paramount Plus.
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