u/Agouramemnon

Listened to the Rewatchables on The Godfather, which overall was great, but they stated this as if its a known fact.

There's no real competition between the brothers and there's no animosity between father and children. I think we're being too broad if we're going to call it King Lear because (presumably) there are three offspring and some kind of succession happening.

You can even argue that Goodfellas is more like King Lear, if you assume either one of the three is going to take Paulie's spot (though probably couldn't be Jimmy). One of them goes rogue and in the end they all pretty much go to ruin, which is closer to plot.