Back to the Future

Rating: 9/10 (19 January 2020)

This is long, but i had no quibbles - i was captivated from start to finish. Comparisons with Goodfellas or Casino are lazy. This is a different, more reflective movie.
Scorsese's signature camerawork is back and sublime. And the screenplay crackles with mobster patter - arguments about fish, time-keeping and business echo "funny like I'm a clown, I amuse you?".
De Niro and Pacino especially have lowered their standards over the past decade, but here they (and Pesci) are recharged. These are stunning performances. De Niro's shifts in mood are barely perceptible, but by the end something profound has changed within him. Pacino, meanwhile, bristles with energy, without edging into his sometimes self-parody. And Pesci perhaps never better - here a quieter man but with just one knowing look can change the entire course of a man's life. And despite the brouhaha over the CGI to de-age its leads, it's only briefly distracting.
So a different pace and tone to Scorsese's back catalogue. But man is he still a majestic director.