Netflix did a great thing giving this three-hour epic life.

Rating: 10/10 (5 December 2019)

I think it's fair to say that this is Netflix's first TRUE blockbuster on the service; their previous 'original' offerings were more niche films that didn't have room for wide-release cinemas, but The Irishman is VERY different from the likes of Bird Box, Roma and Okja in that it's a $150-million crime epic starring Robert De Niro, Harvey Keitel, Joe Pesci and Al Pacino all being directed by Martin Scorsese himself. It's an experience that's showing 2019's challenging the landscape of cinema, television and multi-media entertainment itself; and Netflix is leading the charge, and it's going to still stand strong against Disney + and Amazon Prime.
The Irishman has all the best elements of Goodfellas, The Departed and The Wolf of Wall Street: this film has dry wit, humour and intense violence all surrounding the disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa, whom Pacino brings very dynamic, hilarious and cynical charm in his performance. It's a three-hour saga that shows organised crime's thinly-veiled difference between government corruption, extortion and openness of personal character (something even the most honest men can struggle with). It's honest art even if it's somewhat confronting on human nature's somewhat contradictory nature. And it's those kinds of films that show why crime cinema is so important to the creative landscape of cinema. Martin Scorsese's done another great piece of art with this paradigm-breaker of a movie, and he's shown Netflix can stand its own against the Major Hollywood Studios.
The Irishman is a long movie but it's rewarding and fulfilling entertainment. It's a showcase for what Martin Scorsese has done so well in his movies, and it's never gratuitous repetition for the sake of nostalgia. It's new territory that's still got an atmosphere of familiarity to it without undermining the film's story.
The Irishman gets 5/5 stars.