A Mature and Soulful Piece of Cinema, A Much Needed Gift from Scorsese

Rating: 10/10 (30 November 2019)

I remember myself saying to someone how amazing it would be if Scorsese made one more mobster movie, that was before "The Irishman" got announced & honestly, I didn't think it was going to happen. Scorsese's "Goodfellas", "Casino", "Taxi Driver" and "Raging Bull" were some of my favorite movies in the early cinematic endeavours, the first three have been re-watched many times and will get again. Every piece of news during the production of "The Irishman" got me more and more excited, an absolutely stellar cast got pieced together, the return of Joe Pesci, Steve Zaillian as the screenwriter & Netflix (Whom I respect a whole lot for their brave and bonkers business and creative choices) stepping up when no other studio did. Let me tell you right away, I'm not the least bit disappointed.
"The Irishman" proves that, after all these years and innovations, Scorsese formula still works - as great as ever. The gangster shtick was missed and will be missed again. Overly long runtimes do tend to bother me sometimes, but, somehow, this, the really rarely long runtime of 3 hours and 29 minutes, didn't worry me - I'm talking about the feelings before even getting to watch the movie. I wasn't wrong, it was all worth it. "The Irishman" flows beautifully, the first two hours are eventful - colorful and authentic characters get introduced, not all at once, but steadily and patiently, some may appear once for a brief moment and only get their time to shine later in the movie. It's full of intriguing and flavourful story, almost feels like a good mafia novel. The 2nd half stabilizes slowly into a single timeline & transforms into a (cannot choose a better word) soulful and content drama. In the end I was left staring at the entirety of the credits and fighting some wild man tears.
It's not that often a movie has such a cast, I almost whana call it a wet dream (I speak for myself), it was mesmerising to watch them at work - I can only applaud to all of them. I think "The Irishman" really should get some well deserved Oscar noms, but I'll be the most disappointed if De Niro doesn't get one. Visually "The Irishman" was the top tier you'd expect, great cinematography, the digital deaging turned out to be just fine, violence is stone cold & production design - spot on. The original score & soundtrack felt as dear and nostalgic as the whole movie itself, I'm sure I'll listen to it's main theme song time and time again.
Now I'm not the in-depth analyser on paper and I usually don't talk about the plot, no spoilers, but I can honestly say it's a truly great, very memorable and very (pardon me for saying it again) soulful piece of cinema. To avoid disappointments, I do advice not to expect lots of action, dramatic intensity or suspense - it's a crime drama, driven by the characters, their relationships and morales. You know, I'm just really glad this movie got made. My rating: 10/10.