Snoozefest

Rating: 2/10 (10 December 2019)

Even as a Scorsese fan, this film disappointed. As much as I wanted to love this film, I was simply disappointed by the end result.
First, the good. The source material this film uses tells the real-life mystery surrounding the disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa. It shares the unlikely, yet true, story of Frank "The Irishman" Sheeran and his involvement in the Philadelphia mafia. This epic of a movie covers ~30-50 years and a large cast of interesting characters. All could have movies made about their own lives that would be as interesting.
The cinematography and choice of music is AAA+. I'd like to give Rodrigo Prieto special attention to the work that he did in this film. The plot is compelling and worthwhile.
But the flaws quickly come up. I found Scorsese's choice of actors unfitting for the story told. Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, and Joe Pesci are all well distinguished actors in their own regards. Yet, their age and cliched acting overpowered the positives that they offered. There was no single point in the film that I was convinced of Robert De Niro or Al Pacino were men in their 30s/40s. No amount of CGI de-aging could hide that fact.
Seeing men in their 70s acts in a 3 hour film can make this a snoozefest for some of its viewers. That can be seen in the Netflix numbers showing the small number of viewers that actually make it to the end.
As many critics pointed out, I felt as if the long and winding story could have been told in a more concise manner. Action and scenes of significance happen far and few. Time is taken to build the world that Frank Sheeran existed in rather than moving the story. But some people will see that more as a pro than a con.
As mentioned earlier, I wanted to love this film. Yet, it fails to have the same cinematic magic that Scorsese has shown in his other work. The film disappears in the viewers mind as soon as they finish it, if not sooner. The film leaves no lasting impact on its viewers and will be overshadowed by Scorsese's earlier work.
2/10. One star for plot, one for cinematography. It really took Scorsese 10+ years to make this film?