The Irishman (2019)

By: Mike Ward on Saturday, January 04

R Running Time: 209 mins

SHOULD I SEE IT?

YES

The Irishman is one of the most buzzworthy movies of 2019, with Robert DeNiro, Al Pacino, and Joe Pesci working with Martin Scorsese one more time, in an old-fashioned crime/mob saga.
Scorsese makes this 3 hour, 29 minute film look effortless. Say what you will about the length of the film, but this movie breezes by, as much as a 209 minute movie can.
Brilliant performances complement one another, with technical achievements of the highest order. The Irishman is masterfully made by all involved, even with its polarizing use of cutting edge, de-aging visual effects.

NO

Yes, you read that right. Three hours and 29 minutes. The Irishman, even with availability on the Netflix platform, is going to exhaust some viewers’ patience with that elongated running time.
Some have stated that the de-aging effects are problematic, when the more jarring detail is watching actors of a certain age try and carry themselves as they would some 35-40 years younger.
A film that has very little wrong with it. However, that it simply does everything good will not provide enough sizzle for folks who are expecting one of Scorsese’s passion projects to be exceptional. Some have walked away with a shrug, or the “Okay, and…” reaction.

OUR REVIEW

Martin Scorsese’s epic crime saga, The Irishman, detailing a theory on the death of Teamsters leader Jimmy Hoffa, is a 3-hour 29-minute throwback to the days of sprawling, episodic-style crime dramas – the likes of which simply do not get made anymore. The expansiveness of the film is daunting, though the film largely glides by at a very nimble pace, a testament to not only Scorsese’s well-documented directorial prowess, but also in editor Thelma Schoonmaker’s ability to take any story she is given and uncover all the elements which make it compelling enough to keep viewers watching.

Scorsese has arranged something of a Holy Trinity of performers to lead his production. Robert De Niro stars as Frank Sheeran, a Mafioso and former World War II veteran, who finds himself immersed in underground crime when he uses his job as a delivery driver in 1950’s Philadelphia for nefarious means.

His legal counsel, Bill Bufalino (Ray Romano) is a cousin to Russell Bufalino (Joe Pesci), the leader of an underground crime family, prevalent within the tri-state region. When Bill expunges Frank’s record, Frank goes to work for Russell, eventually leading to their meeting with Hoffa (a fiery Al Pacino). As time goes on, friendships and arrangements are made where Frank works as security detail for Hoffa, and Russell attempts to hold off the government for investigating his practices.

The Irishman covers multiple decades and much has been made about the use of de-aging technology on De Niro, Pesci, and Pacino, who play their characters at multiple ages over the course of the production. The visual effects work in the film has been praised and proves to circumvent the problem of “uncanny valley” (the dead, doll-eye look of most motion capture acting captured on film). After a few minutes of seeing De Niro, Pesci, and Pacino retroactively aged in reverse, the film picks back up its rhythms and the technique proves less distracting than one might anticipate.

Rather, the larger issue with the visual effects work is that for some significant scenes which require action or physicality, the actors – all in their mid-to-late 70s, move around, looking 35-40 years younger, but with the mannerisms of men their current ages. Scorsese and Schoonmaker do try and shoot and edit their way around this, but the movie loses some of its magic whenever this occurs.

However, as pure drama, The Irishman is a measured, steady drip of dense dialogue and information. The performances from the three main actors look and feel effortless, though De Niro has significant portions of his time narrating, both on-screen to the camera and off-screen for the viewer, filling in gaps from Steven Zaillian’s far-ranging and wildly ambitious screenplay.

Pacino plays Hoffa at a fever pitch, bombastic and hyped, teetering on the edge of being almost overbearing. To his credit, Pacino holds his lane and never overwhelms. De Niro is appropriately finicky, impatient, and bothered, while Pesci’s performance exudes a level of calm and consistency that makes him not only best in show, but chilling to watch every moment he’s on screen.

A vast ensemble supports the three main performances, And while much has been made about the lack of meaningful dialogue afforded females in the film, one of the finest performances comes from Anna Paquin, whose portrayal of Frank’s daughter Peggy is the film’s most emotionally resonant takeaway. Her much-debated silence for nearly her entire performance speaks volumes and, in addition to her uneasiness around Russell and his lecherous looks her direction, her absolute disappointment in Frank as a father proves to be perhaps the one truly devastating emotional element of his story; a detail Scorsese manages so well that we fully understand why and how her distancing can shake a man like Frank to his core.

Mob bosses, mafia, crime families and brutal murder: If anything, The Irishman is as much about the breakdown of masculinity as it is the championing of it. De Niro’s breaking of the fourth wall occurs in a nursing home, with grayed-out hair, sitting in a wheelchair. By talking directly to us and telling his story, as viewers we are his only remaining audience. By the time, he starts chatting to the camera, we are all he has left.

The Irishman is, technically speaking, flawless, a few glaring visual effects moments aside. Everyone involved in is working at the top of their craft. The film feels big, important, and significant.

The running time, which would normally necessitate a limited series or a multiple episode binge-watch for any other property nowadays, is somewhat halting. Though for those willing to click play on Netflix and devote the time, once you settle into the rhythms Scorsese is conducting with, The Irishman hearkens back to a vintage era of filmmaking that now seems steeped in nostalgia, but felt vibrant and alive in the days gone by.

CAST & CREW

Starring: Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Joe Pesci, Harvey Keitel, Ray Romano, Bobby Cannavale, Anna Paquin, Stephen Graham, Stephanie Kurtzuba, Jack Huston, Kathrine Narducci, Jesse Plemons, Domenick Lombardozzi, Marin Ireland, Lucy Gallina, Welker White, Bo Dietl, Sebastian Maniscalo, Steven Van Zandt, Jim Norton, Kevin O’Rourke.

Director: Martin Scorsese
Written by: Steven Zaillian
Based on the book “I Heard You Paint Houses: Frank "The Irishman" Sheeran and Closing the Case on Jimmy Hoffa” by Charles Brandt
Release Date: November 1, 2019
Netflix

The Irishman is one of the most buzzworthy movies of 2019, with Robert DeNiro, Al Pacino, and Joe Pesci working with Martin Scorsese one more time, in an old-fashioned crime/mob saga.

Scorsese makes this 3 hour, 29 minute film look effortless. Say what you will about the length of the film, but this movie breezes by, as much as a 209 minute movie can.

Brilliant performances complement one another, with technical achievements of the highest order. The Irishman is masterfully made by all involved, even with its polarizing use of cutting edge, de-aging visual effects.

Yes, you read that right. Three hours and 29 minutes. The Irishman, even with availability on the Netflix platform, is going to exhaust some viewers’ patience with that elongated running time.

Some have stated that the de-aging effects are problematic, when the more jarring detail is watching actors of a certain age try and carry themselves as they would some 35-40 years younger.

A film that has very little wrong with it. However, that it simply does everything good will not provide enough sizzle for folks who are expecting one of Scorsese’s passion projects to be exceptional. Some have walked away with a shrug, or the “Okay, and…” reaction.