Martin Scorsese makes a good made for tv movie

Rating: 7/10 (30 November 2019)

Martin Scorsese has given us some of the best mob movies ever. Goodfellas being the gold standard. This movie has one hell of a pedigree, Pacino, deniro, pesci, bobby carnivale, even ray Romano who has been showing his acting chops since he did men of a certain age. So deniro is very deniro and Pacino is very pacino. Scorsese is also very scorcese in directing this movie. And steve Gallian has a great pedigree having written Schindler's list and gangs of new York among other oscar winners. And I give this movie a 7, a 7 to me is the floor of a good movie. A 7 will generally not disappoint. A 7 is good, but just good. And to me that's what this movie is a 7, its good not great. Why not great like so many others seem to think? One its awesome seeing the gangster greats act but they are really old. And no amount of makeup makes a 70 something year old man appear to be 30. Its just impossible. There is one scene where deniro beats someone and he looks well like an old man beating someone but we are supposed to buy him as 30!! Just didn't work so the visual of the timeline becomes blurred. Hell when pesci meets deniro he calls him kid!? He looks 70 I can't even tell what age "kid" represented. 20? I just couldn't suspend my disbelief. Then There is Scorsese, the directing felt very made for bbc television. It didn't feel like his past features. It was underwhelming especially the soundtrack. The story is the best part of it, but even that beautiful written script felt too familiar with the same actors reading the lines the way they do every time we see them. Don't get me wrong, still a Scorsese movie, still masters of their craft doing the roles they are known for, still great story, but just too familiar feeling. At times I felt like I was actually watching goodfellas out takes. When I saw the departed I was blown away, as I have been by almost every movie he has ever made. Even the wolf of wall street which isn't a gangster flick was original and captivating. Scorsese is a master at reinventing his style constantly. Not here, this felt like a Scorsese but felt run of the mill and made for the small screen (relatively). And so though I am sure i will take some flack from many this movie is good but just good and not worthy of the praise others are bestowing upon this.