This series is about so many things, mostly about an American Dreamer making a movie, in a sort of perverted way, about the American Dream. Miles Teller as producer Al Ruddy, gets early advice to not let anything get in the way of his movie. It's advice he takes seriously and there are at least a dozen times The Godfather would have been shelved had any other producer in his or her right mind been at the wheel. To say The Godfather encountered obstacles would be the understatement of the century. Many of them are so comical, and the solutions to crushing said obstacles knocked me off my chair more than once.
So for starters, this is storytelling at its finest, compelling, dramatic, wonderful contrasts between deadpan emotions of Miles Teller with the brilliance of Dan Fogler, who absolutely transforms into the great Coppola himself. Seriously, I thought they had found a way to go back in time and get the master director himself. Also remarkable is the hilarious (and I mean hilarious) Matthew Goode as Bob Evans. Patrick Gallo, as Mario Puzo, delivers superb chemistry with Fogler, and the two of them together as collaborators are one of the best acting duos you'll ever see.
As an early Pacino fan, I was especially impressed with the terrific nuances delivered by Anthony Ippolito, who really did his homework. I had forgotten how shy Pacino was in his early years, and Ippolito is just heartbreakingly wonderful as the insecure actor who gets the role of a lifetime.
But the performance to end all performances has to be Giovanni Ribisi who just blew me away in all of his scenes, which he aptly steals every time. He is SO FUNNY and so clever and just so brilliant. I had to rewind most of his scenes because they were just so darned entertaining.
Casting The Godfather was an extraordinary challenge, and thankfully for us, Coppola instinctively knew who would be great in these roles. Fortunately he had Ruddy as his partner to fight the good fight. Had these two not been unrelenting we would have had Robert Redford as Michael, who I am sure would have delivered (as a Northern Italian type) but that would have compromised the whole "Sicilian thing." In a remarkable twist, which is truly Hollywood history, Pacino is swapped with Robert De Niro (who takes Pacino's role in The Gang Can't Shoot Straight, which bombed). De Niro of course, would play Pacino's grandfather in The Godfather II.
Nice to see Eric Balfour (who is always fun) show up as Dean Tavoularis. And of course, the brilliant Justin Chambers who's Marlon Brando is show-stopping especially "the voice." Chambers, like Ippolito, pays close attention to the tiny nuances that bring their real-life counterparts to life in very, very impressive ways.
This is pure drama of course, because it's about the making of a film, but the comedy is equally brilliant. I'm sure I'll watch this again and again.
So for starters, this is storytelling at its finest, compelling, dramatic, wonderful contrasts between deadpan emotions of Miles Teller with the brilliance of Dan Fogler, who absolutely transforms into the great Coppola himself. Seriously, I thought they had found a way to go back in time and get the master director himself. Also remarkable is the hilarious (and I mean hilarious) Matthew Goode as Bob Evans. Patrick Gallo, as Mario Puzo, delivers superb chemistry with Fogler, and the two of them together as collaborators are one of the best acting duos you'll ever see.
As an early Pacino fan, I was especially impressed with the terrific nuances delivered by Anthony Ippolito, who really did his homework. I had forgotten how shy Pacino was in his early years, and Ippolito is just heartbreakingly wonderful as the insecure actor who gets the role of a lifetime.
But the performance to end all performances has to be Giovanni Ribisi who just blew me away in all of his scenes, which he aptly steals every time. He is SO FUNNY and so clever and just so brilliant. I had to rewind most of his scenes because they were just so darned entertaining.
Casting The Godfather was an extraordinary challenge, and thankfully for us, Coppola instinctively knew who would be great in these roles. Fortunately he had Ruddy as his partner to fight the good fight. Had these two not been unrelenting we would have had Robert Redford as Michael, who I am sure would have delivered (as a Northern Italian type) but that would have compromised the whole "Sicilian thing." In a remarkable twist, which is truly Hollywood history, Pacino is swapped with Robert De Niro (who takes Pacino's role in The Gang Can't Shoot Straight, which bombed). De Niro of course, would play Pacino's grandfather in The Godfather II.
Nice to see Eric Balfour (who is always fun) show up as Dean Tavoularis. And of course, the brilliant Justin Chambers who's Marlon Brando is show-stopping especially "the voice." Chambers, like Ippolito, pays close attention to the tiny nuances that bring their real-life counterparts to life in very, very impressive ways.
This is pure drama of course, because it's about the making of a film, but the comedy is equally brilliant. I'm sure I'll watch this again and again.