Scorsese and the old gang of actors

Rating: 10/10 (23 January 2020)

I went into watching this movie cold; I knew nothing about the story line. All I knew was it was a mob movie with Marty Scorsese directing along with actors that he's worked with in the past - De Niro, Pesci, Keitel. Throw in Al Pacino and I figured what's not to like? The big payoff for me was that the script was right out of two books that I read a long time ago - "The Quiet Don: The Untold Story of Mafia Kingpin Russell Bufalino" and "I Heard You Paint Houses: Frank 'The Irishman' Sheeran & Closing the Case on Jimmy Hoffa". When you add to this the fact that I grew up 10 miles from Philadelphia and have relatives that live close to the upstate town of Pittston where Bufalino ruled it became a movie I only dreamed would be made.
Given all this, it's obvious that I'm going to be heavily biased in favor of "The Irishman". Be that as it may, I still think - objectively - that it's a really well made Scorsese film. You can read all the pros and cons about it in the other reviews listed here. All I'll say is watch it, it's worth your time.