There are many issues with The Offer, with the most glaring being that there are too many episodes. A six-episode story is told throughout ten, resulting in the need to stretch out storylines and contrive plots that, in reality, had little to do with the film.
To pad the show's runtime, it revolves around multiple storylines, the three most prominent being the actual production of the movie, a growing mafia war in New York, and the inner workings of Paramount studios. Each of those narratives has its subplots, resulting in neither interesting nor engaging storylines.
The movie-making portion of the show is the most compelling and features outstanding performances from Juno Temple and Matthew Goode. I think that centering the story around Al Ruddy was not the wisest decision, as Miles Teller doesn't seem up to leading the series. Also, he decided to throw on a deeper and more gravelly voice to emulate the real-life Ruddy, but it feels more forced than authentic.
From purchasing the rights to the book, which is one of the highest-selling novels ever, to the movie's completion, the show is at its best. It might not sound all that exciting on paper, but following how Coppola was hired, cast Brando and Pacino, and fought with executives to maintain a creative vision is the best part of the show.
However, it is sort of a double-edged sword here, as the series also can't seem to decide what side of the fence certain characters are on. The creative vs. business fight is nothing new in shows, but when characters flip back and forth between where their loyalties lie, it sucks all the drama out of the situation.
For example, one of the biggest storylines towards the end of the series is an executive arguing with Coppola and the production team over the movie's length, the marketing, etc. It seems like no resolution can be made, but suddenly, the executive is magically convinced to allow the creatives to take control, and the problem is solved.
In addition, the business side of things also has a strange subplot for a few episodes regarding the potential sale of Paramount to another company. It has nothing to do with the show's overall plot other than to serve as almost an infomercial for Paramount studios. As one character argues for the value of the studio and the virtues of art and movie-making, he asks a room of executives, "What can America look up to?"
Without blinking an eye, he says, "Paramount. Take a look at the logo." It's a baffling scene that makes you wonder if business executives themselves wrote this part of the script.
