Martin Scorsese's messy good time.

Rating: 5/10 (23 January 2020)

This is the first in my exploration of Scorsese films after only having seen The Wolf of Wall Street and The Irishman-
That being said, I was very confused by this film as it felt so out of focus for something of Scorsese's caliber- also quite cheesy in a lot of places.
The opening was enough to have me gripped but quickly lost my interest due to it's lack of time control. The edits jump forward in time almost disregarding early set up far too quickly. This would not have been that big an issue but it goes for the entire run time of the film and does not let a lot of the gravitas of certain sequences breathe. You go from seeing Matt Damon's character in the academy to randomly jumping to Leo's character also going through the academy but it's later noted that they did not go at the same time. Later in the film events that transpire over years and months quickly fall out. Leo's character goes from being a low level crack/cocaine dealer to apart of Nicholson's inner circle far too easily. It feels as though this film wanted to be a limited series and had to crunch the script into a lengthy, yet brief, movie run time.
The screenplay however, is very gripping. The dialogue is incredibly well acted although at times feels as though it clashes with its darker more world weary narrative. I loved seeing Jack Nicholson attempt to toy with the police and Leo have outer turmoil over getting caught- a realistic paranoia. My personal beef with the writing here is that none of the emotional scenes carry the weight they should because we are shown something radically different almost immediately after. Time is the main reason this is apparent as the film jumps ahead as if saying that the last scene was simply "back story" for the next scene. This is weak to me as instead of feeling like a flowing narrative, we're presented small scenes (tastes if you will) of the characters' plights.
The musical score by Howard Shore is solid and the soundtrack choices fit their scenes but none really stood out in a particular way to elevate a scene beyond simply just having a backing track. Overall it was decent but not nearly as memorable as a lot of the sequences in most Scorsese movies.
There are many memorable shots in this film but I don't really remember that many standout sequences that felt whole- the editing cuts them down tremendously. Some of the best are usually in relation to what's happening with Nicholson's gang and we are given a lot of it from Leo's perspective which is always tense as he has to stay undercover. It's very smartly shot but feels very early 2000's in terms of color choices and overall is great for Scorsese but not as strong as some of his other line of work as I have seen.
Now I come to my biggest gripes with the movie (MAJOR spoilers ahead). The entire end sequence feels so rushed and almost too satisfying, so as to say that the events that have been suspenseful all throughout the film are just over in a snap. This normally would not phase me but it goes in line with the pacing of the film being way too rushed and it chugs through these last major sequences- filling them with unnecessary side characters for almost no reason. Leonardo devises a plan to perform a citizen's arrest after having just quit the force on his own terms to avoid the inner corruption he had discovered. The scene has no build up; we immediately see Damon's slimeball character go up to the meeting place with Leo without any real suspense as we already have an idea of what's gonna go down. The "twist" is presented when Leo takes Damon down an elevator and comes out the other side brains plastered over the back wall. It's revealed that the Irish gang had another mole in the force. What a twist! It comes out of no where and then is immediately resolved by having that character killed off. Next we are shown Leo's funeral where Damon's wife is shown to want to leave him, as it also been implied that her baby is not his. Next we are shown what is perhaps the cheesiest scene in the entire movie as we see Damon return to his luxury apartment where everyone now hates him for whatever reason like side characters in a kids movie looking down on the bully character. He walks in and is killed in an almost slapstick fashion by Mark Wahlberg's character who is presumed to not even be working for the police anymore. Then the final shot of a rat on a railing- just pure cheese. That felt like something from a Pixar ending more than anything as they specifically use the word rat multiple times in the film to highlight traitors. It's meant to be unsubtle and it just feels like the absolute cheesiest way to end the entire "drama".
Compare all of this to The Irishman's absolutely brilliant ending where every loose end is tied neatly- all helped by the film's long runtime. In the Irishman we are shown how each character's relationship to each other is shattered by its ending and how Robert De Niro's character, Frank, has to carry the guilt with him until he finally dies. It feels mature and earned. Another thing that film does is show Martin Scorsese's emotional maturity as it still manages to have funny sequences but they do not compromise the serious overall tone of the film.
Martin Scorsese is an incredible director and his body of work speaks for itself. None of my criticism is fact and this is just my personal opinion. I did find the film entertaining and I was never bored- just could not help question a lot of the creative choices for the narrative. I loved the other works I have seen from him and I don't expect to love every creation from a single mind. After all, film is a group effort- this one just wasn't for me.