The real thing

Rating: 9/10 (23 October 2019)

This is a dark movie, so perhaps it shouldn't be such a pleasure to watch, but it really is a joy to be guided once more through those mean streets by Martin Scorsese and his A-team, de Niro, Pacino and Pesci. Yes, we've been here before. And yes, the women's roles are underdeveloped, albeit brilliantly acted. But that's the milieu Scorsese and his excellent screenwriter Steve Zaillian are investigating. The depth and the quality of every element is evident in every moment of this long film, which held me enthralled throughout. It is such a relief to return to this level of artistry in an age of facile blood-and-guts merchants like Tarantino. THE IRISHMAN is the real thing. And there's a bonus in a small but perfectly executed, effortlessly threatening cameo from Harvey Keitel. Unmissable.