2 hours too long, a bloated ponderous movie short on action

Rating: 5/10 (7 December 2019)

Let me just say that I love mafia movies. Goodfellas (the earlier Scorsese masterpiece starring De Niro and Pesci) is one of my favourite movies which I have watched in excess of a dozen times. The Irishman was probably my most eagerly anticipated movies of 2019. I expected this movie to be every bit as good as Goodfellas, boy was I wrong.
The Irishman is slow and several hours too long. It is devoid of much action and it misses out on most of the other elements that make a good mafia movie. It did have its moments, so it wasn't a complete waste of time. I particularly liked Pesci's role which reminded me of Uncle Junior off the Sopranos. Overall though, I cannot recommend this movie. It just wasn't that good. As for it being an Oscar contender, dream on. This unfortunately over hyped movie is probably best avoided. Do yourself a favour and watch Goodfellas instead!