Scorsese has not lost it

Rating: 9/10 (6 January 2020)

The Irishman is a classic gangster-mafia film in the genre of Goodfellas and Godfather, delivering a faithful yet fresh experience. The movie tells the story of Robert De Niro, the Irishman, and his place in the Italian mafia, led by Joe Pesci, and his relationship with work union icon Jimmy Hoffa, Al Pacino.
The acting in this movie is stellar. After being disappointed with De Niro and Pacino in recent years, I was more than pleasantly surprised with their performances, with Al Pacino being a standout, captivating in every scene. Huge credit to Scorsese's direction, bringing out the best in De Niro, Pesci and Pacino with a visible passion in each of their performances.
The movie takes place over 5 decades, and the makeup and performances really selling the different ages of the characters. 76 year old Robert De Niro seamlessly transfers from being in his spritely 30s to his crippled 80s.
I had one issue with the movie in one of its action scenes, where at kicks to the face and stamps on the foot, the lack of contact and timing with the sound was laughable. But that sequence is less than a minute long, with other action pieces being much more polished.
A main concern I had going into it was the runtime. However, knowing the runtime, you should be alright. The pacing in the writing dragged at no point, never feeling slow, and consistently investing me into the story. The runtime is definitely not gratuitous, with no scenes able to be cut without meaningful sacrifice. I have definitely sat through many 2 hour movies that felt far longer than this. I would highly recommend this film to be watched in one sitting if possible.