The Godfather (1972)

New York’s most powerful man spends his daughter’s wedding running a very polite customer service desk out of a dark office. Favors in, favors owed, nobody raises their voice. That’s how The Godfather tells you everything, quietly. Marlon Brando mumbles like a man who has never once needed to speak up, and Al Pacino starts as the nicest guy at the party and slowly turns into something you can’t look away from. James Caan’s Sonny is a lit match in a fireworks store. The flaws are real. 175 minutes is a commitment. The Sicily stretch is beautiful and slow. Kay and Connie mostly exist to watch the men make choices. But the restaurant scene alone is better than most whole movies. It got a perfect 100 on Metacritic, and 2.27 million IMDb ratings average a 9.2. A 9.6 because every scene is a family dinner where somebody might not make it to dessert. $198 says you make a giant pot of red sauce this month and call it a tribute.

What works: Pacino’s slow transformation, Brando’s quiet authority and scenes like the restaurant meeting that are built as tight as a watch.

What doesn’t: At 175 minutes the Sicily stretch drags, and the women in the story are mostly left on the sidelines watching the men decide everything.

Who it’s for: Anyone ready to give a classic a whole evening, and people who love a family drama with very high stakes.