There’s quite the trend of seemingly trying to make documentaries more accessible to the masses by dramatizing them. We’ve seen it a fair bit in history programs, and there are plenty of biopic films that say that they relay the real life of a famous person. The making of one of the all-time great movies seems much more of a straightforward documentary project, and you could even view behind-the-scenes additions as mini-documentaries of their own.
In the case of The Offer, a biographical drama has been made about the making of The Godfather. It’s drawn from Albert S. Ruddy’s take on the production – who was a producer on the film and an executive producer on the show – and looks to add a kind of insider’s look portrayed by Hollywood stars. It arrives ten years after The Godfather Legacy documentary movie and proves just how important the 1972 flick and its sequels remain.
Why recount the making of The Godfather?
The Godfather is widely considered to be one of the greatest films produced by Hollywood and remains a relevant and entertaining piece of media today. Some classics can age significantly but still uphold their place as a great of the time. The Godfather remains a prime example of excellent filmmaking. Surprisingly, it only won three of its ten nominations at the Academy Awards in 1973, collecting Best Picture, Best Actor, and Writing Adaptation.
Of the competition, it’s certainly stood the test of time the best. Lead competitors Cabaret, The Poseidon Adventure, and Lady Sings the Blues simply aren’t discussed as regularly or with the same reverence as The Godfather. The first film managed to collect over $270 million worldwide on a $7 million budget, with the next two installments bringing the total to nearly $400 million at the box office alone.
As an IP – which was based on the 1969 novel of the same name by Mario Puzo – The Godfather has been drawn from across the board. The Sopranos, The Simpsons, Modern Family, and even the Barbie movie reference or parody the flick. Then, there’s its official 2006 video game and more recent slot game. The Godfather is now an undeniable presence among slot games, appealing to all movie lovers to spin alongside the magnificent soundtrack.
How does The Offer play into The Godfather collection?
With novels, three movies, a documentary movie, and games, The Godfather offering is already rather vast. Now, The Offer arrives with a dramatization of its creation in a way that lends itself to a documentary. The streamed series on Paramount Plus is a one-off ten-part show starring Miles Teller, Matthew Goode, Dan Fogler, Burn Gorman, Colin Hanks, Juno Temple, and Giovanni Ribisi.
The Offer is all about taking viewers inside the production rather than documenting the stages of it. However, it plays out more as a slightly glamorized or rose-tinted tribute to The Godfather. With Ruddy providing the source material and being an executive producer, many may have expected a few more hard truths in The Offer. Peter Bart, the former vice president of production at Paramount when the studio made The Godfather, says that it’s much more loosely based on anecdotes from Ruddy.
The Offer may not be the most striking or tell-all piece of work about The Godfather, but for those who’d like a little peak at what happened from the view of one of its producers, it can still provide an entertaining watch.
