The Irishman

Rating: 6/10 (20 November 2019)

If you are a cinephile like me you have been waiting for the Irishman to be released for a very long time, even wondering if it will ever see the light of day. Big studios passed on it over and over again, as it seems not many studios are willing to make these kind of films any more. Netflix swooped in like a White Knight to save the day backing the Scorsese lead film with a 170 million dollar budget. With a budget like this, a legendary cast, one of the best directors of all time, expectations were higher than usual.
The Irishman is the story of Frank The "Irishman" Sheeran, a mob hitman who recalls his possible involvement in the murder of James Hoffa. Sheeran is played by Robert DeNiro who delivers one of his best performances lately, however that is not saying much if you follow Roberts career lately. He is my favorite actor of all time, but even I admit he has made some strange film choices the last 10-20 years. We are let into Sheerans world immediately, narrated by Robert himself, and shows his dealings with the mob, James Hoffa and everything along the way. This story is very fascinating, interesting and needed to be told.
I will start with the pros for this film. First off, I have to praise Al Pacino's performance as James Hoffa, he shines every time he's on screen, firing on all cylinders with no signs of slowing down which is amazing for someone 79 years old. I did not expect Al to steal the film, I expected Pesci to be that guy based on past success in Goodfellas and Casino. It was also such a joy to see Pesci, DeNiro together on screen again, any film fan has to appreciate what these men have done in the business. I do not know many better. Stephen Graham as Anthony Pro shines in this film, goes toe to toe with heavyweight actors with ease, really impressed by him, excited to see his future work. The scene when Pro shows up late to meet with Hoffa and Frank is one the highlights of this movie.
It is so rare to get a film like this made nowadays, we all know what is popular and these type of crime drama slow burns are not. We really should savor these, push studios to take risks by making them as well. A good amount of viewers only know about Hoffas disappearance, me included, this film fixes that, as we learn a lot about Hoffa. He is portrayed as a larger than life character, a perfect match for Pacino.
Now that the pros are out of the way, let's go to the cons. This film runs 3 hr 30 mins and you feel it, it's almost impossible not to feel the run time when it's that long. I really believe they could of edited out 30 mins of this and had a tighter, crisper film but who am I to nitpick the best director of all time. This movie felt like it would of been better suited as a mini-series. You really have to be a patient person to be able to sit through this in one sitting, a big movie fan. I am worried a good bit of Netflixs customers will not finish it, or have to watch it in 60 minute slices.
So the run time is a serious issue, that was to be expected, a big surprise to me was this movie contained no music to get things going, a sense of dread hung over the film throughout. Things do take a long time to get going, with the run time this is to be expected, do not expect a bang out the gate or Hoffa early. This is the definition of slow burn. If you are expecting this film to be as engaging, entertaining as Martin's Goofellas, Casino, Departed, Wolf of Wall Street you will be severely disappointed. Those movies are four of the best of all time, some of Martins best from work last 30 years, hard to be touched by anyone in film. It simply is not as fun as those, not close.
If this movie was made in say 2005, I really think we could of gotten something a lot different, and I am saying that because of the age of DeNiro, Pesci, Pacino, Kietel etc. DeNiro's fighting scenes looked hard to capture at his age, looked to be not be moving very well, we can't expect Robert to be like the guy in Heat though at almost 75. If Martin would of used younger actors more in this film, say a Matt Damon or Leo, and saved DeNiro for big scenes, limiting his vulnerability, he would of made more of a impact.
Bottom line - Do not go in expecting a masterpiece like Goodfellas, Casino. Do not be worried about the de-aging ruining things, it is not very noticeable, well done. Make sure you have some energy as well before this, take that extra shot of espresso if you have to. It hurts me to say this but I left the theater very disappointed, thinking of watching Goodfellas to erase the memory of this quickly. I think a lot of people are reviewing this based on sentimentality, the love of Scorsese, I am just reviewing the film. Happy Netflix stepped up the plate for this, gave me one more chance to see my hero's on screen, but just like any star athlete past his prime, it's time for my hero's to hang it up for good. It hurts me to say this.
6/10