The Godfather: 5 Ways Michael Corleone Is Pacino’s Best Character (& 5 Alternatives)

Al Pacino is widely regarded to be one of the greatest actors of all time. He’s one of the few thespians to have been awarded the Triple Crown of Acting. With his recent Oscar-nominated turn as Jimmy Hoffa in Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman, Pacino proved he’s still got it after years of movies like Righteous Kill and Jack and Jill tarnishing his reputation.

Pacino got his big break in the ‘70s when Francis Ford Coppola cast him as Michael Corleone in The Godfather. While Michael is arguably still Pacino’s best role, there are plenty of alternatives to choose from across his decades-long Hollywood career.

10 Michael Is The Best: He’s Slowly Corrupted

The true mark of a great actor is their ability to depict a character’s gradual change, like Bryan Cranston did with Walter White or Jack Nicholson did with Jack Torrance. Al Pacino played one of the greatest corruption arcs of all time in The Godfather trilogy.

Michael Corleone’s journey begins as he’s returned from war a hero and he’s got a legitimate life ahead of him outside the illicit family business. By the end of the second movie, he’s an emotionless mafia boss who had his own brother whacked.

9 Alternative: Arthur Kirkland (…And Justice For All)

Courtroom drama …And Justice for All is best-known for featuring Pacino’s iconic “You’re out of order! The whole trial is out of order! They’re out of order!” speech. But it’s more than just a movie with a memorable monologue.

Defense attorney Arthur Kirkland is one of Pacino’s all-time greatest roles. He’s a lawyer who’s frustrated by the limitations of the system. The individual-versus-an-institution dynamic fit young Pacino like a glove.

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8 Michael Is The Best: He’s Both A Tragic Hero And A Heartless Villain

When the AFI ranked Michael Corleone as one of the most iconic villains in movie history, some critics argued that Michael is actually a tragic hero, as he started his character arc with the best intentions and was forced to do bad things by circumstance.

But he’s still a remorseless killer who makes a lot of questionable decisions. The beautifully complex thing about Michael is that he’s a tragic hero and a heartless villain.

7 Alternative: Frank Serpico (Serpico)

One of the toughest roles to play is an undercover cop because the actor has to convincingly play the cop, then convincingly play the roles that the cop plays on top of that.

But of course, if someone can be trusted to do it right, it’s Al Pacino. He proved as much with his iconic performance as the titular NYPD detective in Sidney Lumet’s biographical crime thriller Serpico.

6 Michael Is The Best: Pacino Shared Impeccable Chemistry With The Rest Of The Cast

When The Godfather was first released, Stanley Kubrick declared that it had the greatest cast in movie history. The cast is anchored by Marlon Brando and Al Pacino as Vito and Michael, respectively, but all the supporting actors are screen legends, too.

Pacino shares fantastic chemistry with all of them, from James Caan and John Cazale as his estranged brothers to Diane Keaton as his embattled second wife.

5 Alternative: Jimmy Hoffa (The Irishman)

Although the digital de-aging effects are a little shaky at times, Pacino stole the show in Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman in the role of union boss Jimmy Hoffa. Robert De Niro stars as Frank Sheeran, a mob hitman who claimed to have been responsible for Hoffa’s unsolved murder.

Scorsese’s crime epic wouldn’t have worked anywhere near as well if Pacino and De Niro’s palpable chemistry didn’t make Sheeran and Hoffa’s BFF-ship feel real, so when Sheeran gets the order to kill him, he’s genuinely conflicted.

4 Michael Is The Best: Pacino Topped Himself In The Sequel

In 1972, Pacino gave the best performance of his career in The Godfather, then promptly topped himself in 1974 with an even greater performance in the same role in The Godfather Part II.

Pacino’s one-upmanship echoes the one-upmanship of Francis Ford Coppola, who reluctantly returned to direct the sequel and managed to craft a masterpiece that was even finer than its predecessor.

3 Alternative: Bobby (The Panic In Needle Park)

Francis Ford Coppola was convinced to cast Al Pacino in The Godfather after seeing his early-career turn as a heroin addict in The Panic in Needle Park. The movie is a love story as a young woman falls for Pacino’s addict character and gets hooked on drugs herself.

There’s a painful honesty in Pacino’s performance in The Panic in Needle Park that makes the unspeakable tragedies of its slice-of-life plot feel real.

2 Michael Is The Best: He’s The Greatest Gangster Character Ever Created

Naming the greatest gangster character ever created is tough, because there are so many to choose from: Tony Soprano, Little Caesar, Harold Shand, Stringer Bell, even Vito Corleone.

But arguably, it’s Michael Corleone. So many subsequent gangster characters have been inspired by Michael, while his journey from family outsider to ruthless crime boss encapsulates the dark intensity of the mafia lifestyle.

1 Alternative: Sonny Wortzik (Dog Day Afternoon)

In most heist movies, the audience isn’t expected to root for the robbers, but in Sidney Lumet’s sort-of true-to-life neo-noir Dog Day Afternoon, the robber is a lovable underdog who’s in way over his head. Al Pacino plays Sonny Wortzik, who decides to rob a bank to pay for his lover’s gender confirmation surgery.

He shares incredible chemistry with John Cazale, his many-time co-star who started out with him on the New York theater scene, and he captures Sonny’s increasingly flustered mindset as the heist goes on and the tension rises.

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