An admirable work of speculative history.

Rating: 8/10 (28 November 2019)

The story:
More than any other gangster movie, this one never lets go of the impression that you are willingly spending time with axxholes. It's based on real events and regardless of how accurate or truthful it is, that connection to reality, to the 'horror' aspect of knowing there are people out there doing these things, strips away the basic protection an audience has while enjoying viewing reprehensible/repugnant human tricks by having the 'It's only a movie' justification. For example, there comes a scene in which the audience is tempted to have some high level of empathy for the emotional pain a central character feels, as a 'normal' human would have while watching a 'normal' fictional tale, when the reality is that the character never actually reaps the level of pain a scumbag like him deserves.
Did Scorsese intend the dichotomy?
The movie:
That said, there was very much to admire and take delight in, most of it technical, front and back of the camera. On every level, it is as polished a production as one could expect from such a team.
Some scene/dialog pairings were alone worth the price of admission: the De Niro/Pacinos especially, much better than "Heat". And both of them, individually, give very impressive performances. Oscar talk is justified. Everyone, including the extras, top of their game.
The age-reducing software worked surprisingly well, to the extent that by the time film time catches up to the actors and their current faces, one suspects they used aging-software on them; the casting of supporting actors/extras was excellent - the faces were entirely fitting.
The period details are exceptional.
An admirable work of speculative history.