Three-Plus Hour Mafia Epic

Rating: 7/10 (2 January 2020)

"The Irishman" directed by Martin Scorsese, starring Robert DeNiro as Frank Sheeran, Joe Pesci as Russ Bufalino, and Al Pacino as Jimmy Hoffa.
"The Irishman" is a three-plus hour epic about Italian mafia families in the northeast Philadelphia-area. It is reminiscent of Scorsese's earlier critically-acclaimed mafia movie, "Goodfellas," also starring DeNiro and Pesci.
I thought some of the hype on this year's Netflix contender was overblown. The story is a dramatization of Charles Brandt's book, "I Heard You Paint Houses" a tell-all book of the mafia's criminal activities in the mid-twentieth century.
The film ties together some of the conspiracy theories of John F. Kennedy's assassination and the disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa. The actors' performances, the screenwriting and directing were all superb, but as a whole it was all a little too much. Two or three times I was looking at my watch saying, "how much longer is this movie?" I feel like after watching this film, I felt sick to my stomach and didn't have to watch another mafia movie again in my life. Yuck!
While I am sure it is destined to win some awards in February, it isn't going to be my pick or preference. There are much better ways to spend more than three hours of your time.