The Offer
The Godfather Part III turns 35
Created by Michael Tolkin
Developed by Michael Tolkin & Nikki Toscano
Starring Miles Teller, Matthew Goode, Dan Fogler, Giovanni Ribisi, Juno Temple
Available for streaming on Paramount+

by Nikk Nelson, Staff Writer

Starting at 5,000 feet, I want to say that I find it to be very frustrating to live in a world of constant content release. Back (cracks, pops, hurts) in my day, there was a very finite number of film studios, television studios, and then you had whatever for public access. The number of movies and shows released each year, therefore, was also very finite. I can’t help but feel like it drove part of my sense of community—my ability to have conversations with my peers and vise-versa revolved around, at least in small part, the fact that we had all watched the same shows and gone to the same movies.

Now, that’s all gone. Here’s how most of those conversations go these days:

Me: “Hey. Did you see Shogun on FX? Wow. Great stuff.
Them: “No. But did you see The Kings of Tupelo on Netflix?”
Me: “No.”
Them: “Oh, you gotta watch that.”
<seventeen months later>
Them: “Hey! I finally started Shogun! You were right! It’s amazing!”
Me: <remembers nothing about it>

Meanwhile, in the background, every streaming service, in addition to every television studio, is releasing a typhoon of new shows every single year. I don’t hear about ninety percent of them until that yearly article comes out about what shows have been canceled after their first season. And, a lot of times, reading what the shows were about, I absolutely would have watched them and maybe even recommended them, had I only known they existed/hadn’t had to pay for another subscription service to watch them. This model feels very unsustainable from every imaginable angle.

I bring it up because I should have watched The Offer on Paramount+ when it came out in 2022. When I say it is one of the best series I have ever seen, I am not exaggerating. It deserved so much more attention than it got. Luckily, one of the few advantages to living in these times is media has a much longer shelf life. Things stick around longer and there’s many different ways to find and watch, versus back (snap, crackle, pop) in the day when you had to rely solely on reruns or maybe a VHS box set that cost $300.

I don’t remember why I originally subscribed to Paramount+. I am ninety-nine percent sure it was because they have all the old Nickelodeon shows like Ren and Stimpy and Rocko’s Modern Life. Anywho, at some point, an ad for The Offer popped up and I was immediately intrigued, for several reasons:

1)        Miles Teller. Of young, contemporary actors, he is one of my favorites. If you haven’t seen Ed Brubaker and Nicolas Winding Refn’s Too Old to Die Young, check it out.
2)        It’s a show about the making of The Godfather. I love all things biopics, documentaries, vignettes, about the making of movies/shows. I find it absolutely fascinating.
3)        I saw that Dan Fogler was playing Francis Ford Coppola.

Which segues nicely into the main reason why you should watch this series: the performances. I think Dan Fogler is one of the most criminally underrated actors working today. I could watch that man in anything. One of my go-to movies when I’m in a bad mood and need cheering up is Balls of Fury. But here’s the thing, Dan’s performance in this isn’t comedic. It has a few of those moments but it is a straightforward, dramatic part. And he fucking nails it. He captures the frustration, the unbendingness, the principles of Coppola as a character directing something like The Godfather. And it’s only one of the great performances in this series.

Miles Teller plays newly hired film producer, Albert Ruddy—the entire series is based on Ruddy’s experience (told from his perspective) producing The Godfather, from inception all the way to its box office history. And, shoo-boy, were there ever hurdles from that Point A to Point B. The series captures, as best as I have ever seen, what a producer actually does, and what a miracle it is that anything gets made. A film, or a television show, has so many moving parts and any of them can break down on a moment’s notice.

Juno Temple plays Ruddy’s assistant, Bettye McCartt, yet another great performance from her. Although, I would have to say, if you want to see some transcendent Juno Temple, then you have to watch her in Fargo. I felt her role and character in this series limited her a bit, perhaps because, at least in my opinion, she played a similar role in Ted Lasso. She has a lot more range than this series let her express (but it’s on full display in Fargo).

A performance that really surprised me was Justin Chambers (Dr. Alex Karev of Grey’s Anatomy fame) as Marlon Brando. Talk about an intimidating role. But Chambers really pulls it off, and not in a way that’s over-exaggerated or cartoonish. His approach and performance, much like Fogler’s, is firmly centered in the character. Which can’t be easy to do, given how iconic as that actor, that part, and that film ended up being.

Arguably the best performance in the series goes to Matthew Goode as infamous Paramount film producer, Robert Evans. I can’t explain how Goode (no, I’m not sorry) the performance is. You just need to go and watch it. His voice, mannerisms, everything, is pitch perfect. Other notable mentions include but are not limited to, Giovanni Ribisi as mobster, Joe Colombo (that reminds me, I need to finish Sneaky Pete), Colin Hanks as “money over art” Paramount producer Barry Lapidus, Burn Gorman as Paramount head Charles Bluhdorn, and Anthony Ippolito who plays Al Pacino so well, it’s spooky.

The Offer is streaming on Paramount+. A blu-ray set is also available—I always recommend physical media. You won’t be sorry to have this in your collection.

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