The Disappointment

Rating: 7/10 (2 October 2019)

After watching The Departed, I'm not expecting much from The Irishman.I should preface this by saying that I really like most of Scorsese's movies. Taxi Driver and Raging Bull are fantastic, and Goodfellas is one of my favorites. Throughout the summer, I've tried to watch a lot of movies from specific directors, like John Carpenter and Wes Anderson. Pretty basic, right? After looking over his filmography, The Departed seemed to be the one film that is universally praised that I have not seen.
Well, put simply, I didn't think it was that great. Of course, from a technical level, it looked fine. For the story, characters, and overall experience, I was underwhelmed and disappointed. I know that this point is more of a preference of mine, but I really don't like movies going over two and a half hours unless they're able to hold my attention (think of the LOTR Trilogy). I thought The Departed was really boring. That may be simplifying the problems I have with it, whatever. I'm getting really tired of seeing all of the same actors all of the time (Leo, Damon, Marky Mark, etc.) I'm sure many of you feel the same way.
After looking into the history of this movie, you'll find out that it was a remake of Infernal Affairs, a Hong Kong picture. So not only is this movie self indulgent of the tired "mafioso gangsta" genre, it's a mostly unoriginal concept as well. And I'm sure if you're from Boston, you have some fondness for The Departed, much like how I feel about Adventureland (Pittsburgh/Kennywood). Other things that bothered me were the lame soundtrack, and attempts to make "the Irish experience" something much deeper than it actually is. I get that directors like Scorsese are doing what they're doing because they like it, but at this point it's just too much.
The Irishman is coming out later this year, and I don't think I'll see it. With Once Upon A Time In Hollywood and Rocketman, I've had enough good experiences in theaters this year. A lot of people are excited that De Niro, Pacino, and Pesci are all together again. I don't see why you would be, when so many great movies with them already exist. Hopefully I'll be wrong, and this does everything right that The Departed did wrong (in my mind). I still ended up rating it at 7/10, because it's not that bad, but it's not something special.