The Offer

:

Season 1
Metascore
48

Mixed or average reviews - based on 28 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 11 out of 28
  2. Mixed: 8 out of 28
  3. Negative: 9 out of 28
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Critic Reviews

  1. The A.V. Club
    Reviewed by: Alison Foreman
    Apr 29, 2022
    33
    Despite a stellar cast, equally good performances, and the rights to one of cinema’s greatest achievements (conveniently celebrating its 50th anniversary this year), The Offer mishandles its embarrassment of riches by rolling out a generic carousel of flat anecdotes that feel first and foremost like a Godfather-themed ad for Paramount+.
  2. Decider
    Reviewed by: John Serba
    Apr 29, 2022
    30
    The opening salvo of The Offer fails to convince us that 10 hours of a “true” Hollywood making-of story is worth sitting through. Haven’t we seen enough of this back-patting, inside-joke stuff lately? Rewatch The Player instead. Oh, and The Godfather, too.
  3. New York Magazine (Vulture)
    Reviewed by: Roxana Hadadi
    Apr 28, 2022
    30
    There is allegedly gossip here, but The Offer’s book-report-like approach to explaining what The Godfather is really about (family, food, the American dream) is repetitive for anyone who’s seen the film, and condescendingly didactic for those who haven’t. ... The writing and direction lack a guiding sense of what this series is meant to say about The Godfather, about Paramount Pictures, or about moviemaking in general within these ten episodes.
  5. The Hollywood Reporter
    Reviewed by: Daniel Fienberg
    Apr 26, 2022
    30
    Only rarely less than watchable — though the 64-minute finale is close to unwatchable — The Offer is an illustrated Wikipedia entry stretched illogically to 10 hours by pandering to cinema fans with endless winking and nudging, and with performances that range from likably cartoonish to Madame Tussauds in a heatwave. It’s bad, but never quite boring.
  6. IndieWire
    Reviewed by: Ben Travers
    Apr 21, 2022
    25
    A soulless, vapid piece of Content™ that’s about as far removed from “art” as professionally produced television can get.
  7. The Daily Beast
    Reviewed by: Nick Schager
    Apr 21, 2022
    20
    The Offer knows its lore and packs tons of details, anecdotes and analysis into its 10 installments. However, it does so in an absurdly blunt and cheesy manner, such that it resembles a parody of prestige awards bait.
  8. RogerEbert.com
    Reviewed by: Nick Allen
    Oct 3, 2023
    10
    “The Offer” would probably have been brilliant if it had a sense of humor. Alas, it is not self-aware or savvy enough for that. Instead, its goofy failures create a veritable list of guidelines of how not to tell a story when otherwise trying to get across how hard it is to make a movie in Hollywood.
  9. Salon
    Reviewed by: Melanie McFarland
    Apr 28, 2022
    10
    Your time would be better spent watching "The Godfather III" three times in a row than taking in the whole of "The Offer."
  10. Rolling Stone
    Reviewed by: David Fear
    May 4, 2022
    0
    Everyone collectively remembers the making of The Godfather as inspiring a high point in American cinema. Now we can all say it’s also inspired a forgettable, God-awful low point in television.

User Reviews

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User Score
7.7

Generally favorable reviews- based on 7 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 7
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 7
  3. Negative: 1 out of 7
  1. shorewalker
    May 7, 2022
    9
    Four episodes in, I'm not surprised that many critics have missed or underplayed the strengths of The Offer. Its first theme, creating andFour episodes in, I'm not surprised that many critics have missed or underplayed the strengths of The Offer. Its first theme, creating and maintaining a great team, is something that movie critics don't tend to relate to. Its second theme, deciding who to support and when, is also unusual. Its third, the trials of project management in art and business, is completely alien to movie criticism.

    Yet by saying intelligent things about all these topics, The Offer stands out – and, as a side benefit, is great entertainment for anyone interested in a rip-roaring tale about these things.

    The Offer is committed to the idea that project management and team-building are skills that great filmmaking needs. Very few good films or TV series have been made about business; this is one. ("All the President's Men" and "Other People's Money", for instance, both have business themes, but neither is quite focused on business as its subject.)

    The Offer shows a super-talented team doggedly pursuing an artistic objective. Paramount initially considered The Godfather a quickie project. But the team's members wanted to turn the slightly lurid bestselling book into a film masterpiece. They internalise each other's best obsessions – such as the desperate desire to cast a relatively unknown stage actor as Michael Corleone after studio boss Bob Evans repeatedly and emphatically rules him out. If you’ve been involved with high-performance teams, this dynamic rings true in a way that’s rarely depicted well on the screen.

    As that studio boss, Matthew Goode oozes believable charisma. But the rest of the cast is never less than strong either. Newcomer Anthony Ippolito is playing Pacino - a horrendous challenge - and doing a quietly great job of it. Dan Fogler also does great work as director Francis Ford Coppola in a bromance with Mario Buzo, a lovely dynamic you don’t see enough on film. (And it's true!. Said the real-life Coppola of Puzo: "I just loved to be around him ... I loved him like a favourite uncle.")

    There's shouting and violence, but the writers do a lot of their best work in quiet character moments. And they frequently reject the standard Hollywood solutions for their characters. Dull female tropes go out the window; the three key female roles are all just smart, interesting and effective people behaving in believable ways. (It's sad how notable this still is.)

    Perhaps most unusually of all, the script genuinely seems to like most of the people it’s portraying, even the mobsters. Yes, there are obvious reasons – the story of Paramount heroes is being presented on Paramount+ –, but the end result is still great to watch. In marked contrast to most of this year’s TV, The Offer has not yet dragged for a moment. 10 episodes feels like it will be just right.

    The Offer is not self-consciously artistic. But it is telling a great story about art and business, and telling it with both understanding and affection.    … Full Review »
  2. MDXV
    Mar 7, 2023
    10
    LikeLike
    LikeLikeLikeLikeLikeLikeLikeLikeLikeLikeLikeLikeLikeLikeLikeLikeLikeLikeLikeLikeLikeLikeLikeLikeLikeLikeLikeLikeLikeLikeLikeLikeLikeLikeLikeLikeLikeLikeLikeLikeLikeLikeLikeLikeLike    … Full Review »
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