Probably the last great classic gangster picture we will ever see.

Rating: 9/10 (28 November 2019)

Ok, so the new Scorsese film... where to begin.
I hope that anyone truly interested in cinema watches this picture. The Irishman is not like anything we have watched or witnessed in 24 years.
Scorsese, always a fantastic director has always had a tight hand on the gangster picture genre. While he has not visited this material in its true form since 1995's Casino, you can still catch glimpses of his great handling of gangster material in The Departed.
Scorsese has managed to assemble a gangster-esqe Avengers of sorts. Bringing out all the heavy hitters for one last show of a genre of cinema which has been long lost in the carnival of superhero films that have cluttered cinemas for the last 20+ years.

The Irishman, clocking in at 3.5 hours moves with a sustained pacing that never wastes a single minute of its running time. DeNiro, serving as the narrator gives the audience a ghostly performance as a working man who rose up the ranks of the Philadelphia crime families and the Teamsters union by not just stepping outside the law to cut side deals to feed his family but to later rise up the ranks to become one of the most powerful non-mafia/italian born characters in this tale.
The Irishman, clocking at 3.5 hours moves with a sustained pacing that never wastes a single minute of its running time. DeNiro, serving as the narrator gives the audience a ghostly performance as a working man who rose up the ranks of the Philadelphia crime families and the Teamsters union by not justt stepping outside the law to cut side deals to feed his family but to later rise up the ranks to become one of the most powerful non-mafia/Italian born characters in this tale.
DeNiro effectively portrays an emotionally closed-off family man who has grown so immune to the brutality he not only witnessed but carried out that you really start to think that his self inflicted mental state was something he carried through his entire life. Now, some can easily say he is Irish and like most of the Irish (Myself being half) we kind of never show emotion or air our issues because it can convey weakness in the armor. No matter how you look at it, Deniro effectively pulled this off to such a great length he truly has to be commended for his ghostly approach to the character.
Pesci, normally know for being the off the hook, crazy as hell gangster is actually playing 100% opposite of his previous work with Scorsese, and let me tell you, his crack at Philly Crime Boss Russell Bufalino is one of the best performances he has given since Goodfellas.
Even Harvey Keitel and Bobby Cannavale who are used sporadically embrace their respective characters and bring the full game to the court and it shows.
What you do not get from The Irishman that you do from other Scorsese gangster pictures is a perspective from the wives (Lorraine Bracco and Sharon Stone roles from the previous films). The wives are merely a backdrop to fill int he family picture and have no real purpose or resonance in the film. However, this is being told from the perspective of Frank (DeNiro).
A note must be made that crim historians have been vocal in stating that Frank Sheeran may have embellished, at great lengths, his total involvements in everything depicted, but I am not here to do a comparison of truth versus fiction. This story by Zaillian is based on the book I Paint Houses. Which is supposed to a biography of Frank. So take the complete story depicted in The Irishman with a grain of salt when compared to historical facts.
In closing, I urge my friends and fellow readers to watch this film and embrace everything it gives to you from the cinematic POV that is portrayed. Films of this nature are not going to be found as we move forward in cinema and this may be the last great motion picture from the gangster genre ever created.
My overall score, a 10 out of 10, which is rare for me to give in this day and age.
Enjoy.