Avoid. Fails on so many levels.

Rating: Null/10 (29 November 2019)

"The Irishman" is based on a book published in 2018 about the life of Frank Sheeran who the author claims murdered Jimmy Hoffa. A new book penned by a Harvard law professor implies another individual killed the labor leader. Should this conflicting information dissuade you from watching "The Irishman"? Not necessarily. However, "The Irishman" fails on so many other levels: Poorly written script, too many directors, unsatisfactory editing, verbose acting, histrionic acting by Pacino (as usual), and unnecessary voice-over narration.
The only good thing about "The Irishman" is the super-talented Brit, Stephen Graham, who out acts everyone in the very short time he is on screen. Hopefully, someone will put his scenes up on YouTube so no one will not have to suffer through watching the entire movie.
Where to begin?
1. The Voice-over Narration. The movie begins with De Niro's character in an old age home telling "his story." A great script does not need voice-over narration. And because voice-over narration is used in "The Irishman," the movie is not visceral. And because the movie is not visceral, the viewer has to convert the screenwriter's words into feelings. That is not why we go to the movies - to do the screenwriter's job. So, because the writer didn't do his job, you'll have to process everything De Niro says (while at the same time watching the movie) as he talks over everyone's scenes.
2. Balloons informing us who very minor characters are, and when and how they died. Who is the idiot who thought this was a good idea? Now the viewer has to process two things: 1. The Voice-over narration. 2. Reading unnecessary balloons filled with unnecessary information.
3. The Acting. Both De Niro and Pacino sound, gesture, and emote like they have in every other movie they've been in. De Niro and Pacino both could learn a thing or two from Stephen Graham on how to become and sound like the character in the script they signed onto to play.
4. The CGI used to make the actors appear younger. What moron came up with this idea? I can just imagine the powers that be sitting around saying, "Hey, salaries for Pacino, Pesci, and De Niro will be greater if we don't use actors to play them as young men. What do you mean? We'll use CGI to make them appear younger. What will the audience think about that? F the audience." The CGI used on the faces of Pacino, Pesci, and De Niro is HIGHLY distracting to the viewer and should not have been used. Meaning, viewers are not idiots. Well, some are. You can't get away with fooling us, or satisfying us with this type of CGI. What's the matter, are De Niro and Pacino too irritable and restless in their old age to sit in a chair several hours for makeup?
5. The movie is over 3 hours long. This movie is not a movie worth 3-plus hours of anyone's time. It is unnecessarily too long. Unlike James Cameron's "Titanic," the 3-plus hours of "The Irishman" does not make the story richer or more memorable. It just makes it unbearable too long.
6. The movie has no plot. It's just De Niro's character reminiscing. A movie CAN do both. This movie does not.
7. The director clearly was not directing the movie. A director should never allow his "buddy" actors to interfere with his job by allowing said "buddy" actors to direct a scene. By the same token, actors should respect their director and allow him to do his job unencumbered by the actor's opinions, appraisals, or judgements. Actors are not screenwriters. They should respect the director and stay in their lane. No one wants a nurse going into the operating room to operate.
Bottom line, "The Irishman" offers nothing new to the Mob movies genre. Couple that with unimaginative acting, distracting CGI and balloons, disjointed directing, and that should tell you to skip the unnecessary telling of a man who may or may not have killed Jimmy Hoffa.