Very well-acted but overlong Scorsese epic

Rating: 7/10 (27 November 2019)

Martin Scorsese's highly anticipated crime epic, "The Irishman," has arrived on Netflix. The film stars Robert De Niro as Frank Sheeran (a mob hitman,) Al Pacino as influential union boss Jimmy Hoffa, and Joe Pesci as the head of the Bufalino crime family. The film's story is told from De Niro's perspective and in flashbacks, as he looks back at his life ranging from in his earlier days in combat, to his middle-age years spent in organized crime, to present. For the most part, this structure works. CGI technology was used to "de-age" De Niro in select sequences, but such technology surprisingly does not come off as awkward or bizarre.
The film sometimes serves as a tableau (in a few fleeting sequences, quite literally) of American society in the second half of the twentieth century. While this lens of its essence is often interesting, it can also be tedious in places. The film's performances are, unsurprisingly, terrific. De Niro's acting as Sheeran is often low-key to allow his interpretation of this character to carefully creep up on patient audiences for maximum impact. Pacino is extraordinary in his supporting role, managing to convey both the immense power and control over much of American civic life in certain parts of the U.S. during this era. Pesci is very good as well, although I would have liked to see his character developed a bit more, and possibly some more exposition surrounding the direct relationship between his character and Sheeran. The screenplay is strong, although not quite spectacular. The film's production design and attention to historical detail in recreating the crime and corruption present around organized criminal circles and then applying such ills within the context of modern American history at large is also extremely commendable.
With a thoughtful, elegiac retelling of parts of history combined with great acting, one may wonder why this movie has some notable lapses. Unfortunately, it's because of its rather excessive runtime. Scorsese's films have never been short, and a true fan of his work wouldn't want them to be too short anyway. But the film's plot does not quite stretch itself out enough to justify such a long rung time. The film drags in much of the second act, and while much of its third act is riveting, this finale could be paced better. In other words, the film could have been 2.5 hours (instead of 3.5 hours) without missing anything too important, much less liminal. As a result, I regrettably do not believe this film overall is quite able to touch the greatness of other Scorsese gangster films like "Goodfellas." I also thought that the film could have used a score, even if utilized in a very understated manner.
Recommended to Scorsese fans with patience. 7/10