In the episode “The Bracebridge Dinner,” in reference to The Godfather.
RORY: Oh, we have to rent Godfather 3 on DVD.
LORELAI: You’re kidding.
RORY: In the audio commentary, Coppola actually defends casting Sofia.
LORELAI: Now that is fatherly love.
The girls are discussing what they should do over Rory’s summer vacation.
Lorelai and Rory, we can gather from other episodes, probably own The Godfather trilogy. From this conversation, we can imagine they have it on video tape. Why would they want to rent it on DVD? And of the three Godfather movies, if they were to rent any of them, why would they possibly choose the third?
The Godfather: Part III is the least loved of the movie trilogy. One of issues people have with it is the part of Mary Corleone, played by Sofia Coppola. Francis Ford Coppola, who directed the trilogy, cast his own daughter as this major character. Critics disliked Sofia’s rendering of the part and blamed her for her father’s declining career.
The girls are apparently among these critics. (I am not. Sofia did just fine, and the movie had other problems.) So when Rory reveals that on the DVD, “Coppola actually defends casting Sofia,” this prompts Lorelai’s response, “Now that is fatherly love,” for defending the daughter that destroyed your career.
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