More than just a mafia tale

Rating: 8/10 (6 May 2020)

This has to be the last hurrah for the great De Niro and Pesci, doing another Scorsese flick together. Here they are not always believably playing young(ish) men some of the time. It is interesting to see Ray Romano playing a smooth lawyer. If this was just a gangster flick, it would not be a great one, but it is memorable because it is more than that. This is a tale about morality and loyalty. It presents the life story of a decent, loyal guy, a devoted family man and trustworthy buddy - who is also a crook and a cold-blooded killer, a Mafia operative and hit man, a guy who would shoot a friend in the face or the back if it was called for. The long ending and slow start recall the films of an earlier era, as does the prolonged presentation of the Jimmy Hoffa story.