Movie Review: The Irishman

Hey Jessishmen

Don't let the name confuse you; this movie is not about a loveable Irish drunk named Paddy who goes on many adventures. It's a gruesome tale of how organised crime works with unions and government and how we should never forget how corrupt or corruptible these systems can become in an instant.

I love a good Martin Scorsese flick; the ageing Italian has given us some of the greatest cinematic tales of all time. I think we can cut him a little slack in his old age as he becomes a little more self-indulgent than and tries a little too hard to replicate the magic of his previous creations.

In terms of movies over the last five years, The Irishman is indeed a refreshing break from the subpar content or superhero movie mashups we're getting force-fed. I love Martins gritty take on crime one my personal favourites is Departed where were flung into from the streets of Boston gang bosses.

Martin indeed loves his mob movies, I mean he's practically made it an art form, so how does The Irsiham rank when compared to Goodfellas, The Departed or Gangs of New York? Let's find out!

Poster for The Irishman - Image source: - YouTube

What is The Irishman about?

The Irishman is set In the 1950s and is a biopic retelling of the life and times of truck driver Frank Sheeran as he moves through life and gets pulled into organised as a renowned hitman but becomes so much more as time goes by.

We see his relationship evolve with Russell Bufalino and his Pennsylvania crime family which springboards his career. As Sheeran climbs the ranks to become a top hitman, he also goes to work for Jimmy Hoffa -- a powerful Teamster tied to organised crime.

Trailer for The Irishman

What I thought of The Irishman

A movie with a running time of 3 hours and 20 minutes as a lot to take in for the audience not merely in time but what gets presented to them on screen and while it's not the worst 3 hour movie you'll ever see, it is 30 - 40 minutes too long for what you're given on screen and presented with at the end.

Since the movie takes place across five decades, there's a lot you need to follow as it jumps between eras pretty liberally. So there's no real-time for you to fade off you need to concentrate simply, or you'll be lost very quickly and thank goodness for it's on Netflix so you can do a quick double-take, I don't know how anyone in a cinema could watch this once and absorb it all.

Plot

The plot takes some inspiration from Godfather 2 from De Niro's perspective, but that's all there is. It is more grounded and far too subtle compared to Goodfellas, but considering the age of the lead actors in the movie, we couldn't expect much physical action. But that doesn't mean its dull, grey and dreary because it isn't.

The movie takes us from the backstreets to the highest office and shows us how far and deeply organised crime can reach and that you wouldn't even be aware of it, it was the norm and how people conducted business.

It is surprisingly humorous, has some sombre scenes and doesn't shy away from giving us a blast of nostalgia now and then. The film drags on and on and never really gets going. The plot is disjointed and never really tells a story or builds a narrative. Unlike Scorsese's classics like Casino or Goodfellas, this film struggles to develop a story worth watching.

I feel there were too many plot lines to deal with in combination with the skipping between time frames makes it so hard to keep up for the viewer.

Acting

This movie has a vast cast and to review all of it would take as long as the movie itself, so I'll centre around the three-star power figures Robert Di Nero, Joe Pesci and Al Pacino. They may be household names and award-winning powerhouse actors, but they're no spring chickens, and in some parts of the movie, you can see you're beating a dead horse.

DI Nero carries himself well considering he has to play a character over 50 years and how he slowly changes from a war vet moving back into society as an honest labourer and truck driver. To a hitman who gradually loses his soul, to the hardened leader in organised crime, he eventually becomes.

Al Pacino plays himself, there's not even a shadow of a doubt about it, he didn't turn up to play Hoffa in any way, he was going to do it as himself.

I think the standout, however, would have to be Pesci instead of being the tough-talking wild, a wise guy we know him to be his cold, calculated, measured and commanding. Every scene his in he delivers his lines so well in keeping with the character his trying to portray and shows what a class act he is.

Image source: - cnbc.com

Cinematography

The cinematography is quite different from the usual modern movies we are accustomed to. It doesn't have an overabundance of symmetric shots or Wide-angle shots that we've grown used to in movies lately. The film was shot in a very old-style way with the camera pans and edits. The editing in the film is excellent, and the score is fitting, the music does set the tone for the film.

Technical aspects considered it isn't innovative or something jawdropping, but that was never supposed to be the main focus of the movie; it was the narrative. I know a lot of emphases will also be placed on the CGI used in the film to De-Age the actors to fir their various decades in which the movie needs them to be in. While it is terrible in some places and not okay in others, I don't feel it takes away too much from the movie itself.

If it were my choice, I would have skipped the de-ageing all together and simply cast various actors for the younger versions and save the actors and graphic artists from having to go through all that trouble.

Image source: - cnet.com

My rating for the Irishman

I felt the movie could have been cut a lot shorter with so many scenes that slice of life and the times and yes while it may provide us with a deeper understanding of life through the various decades it doesn't push on the story in any way.

The movie also tries to bring in far too many characters for you to keep track or care about anyone motivations and to be honest. I would have preffered a more Goodfellas style set up where all they talked about murders were summarised for us and not just suggested to the audience with a simple freeze-frame and text.

I think it would have made for a more satisfying ending on how all these things were ultimately a waste of life as these gangsters aged out of the power structures.

The movie seems more like a passion project than something made for audiences, and I can't see this one becoming a classic in the much-loved mob movie franchise.

I would have to give this movie 7 Mob Hits out of 10.

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