Due to my own personal preferences and biases that I have gotten better at ignoring, there was almost no way in hell that I would have been able to sit through three and a half hours of a film about the mob. Luckily, however, Martin Scorsese is able to completely shatter my expectations with the amount of sheer passion and entertainment that can be derived from his newest film The Irishman. This movie is not just a showcase of phenomenal talent from the entire cast and crew but an incredibly heartfelt story of getting older and the reflections of a life previously lived. There is so much to adore about this film and it honestly gave me everything that I was hoping for: bloody mob action, subtle but hard-hitting humor, and an intensely satisfying conclusion to this middle man's life-changing true story. Despite my not having seen every film in Scorsese's filmography and recognizing that I still have a lot to learn about him, I venture to say that this could be his final film and a majority of his audience would die happy.
Based on the book I Heard You Paint Houses by Charles Brandt, The Irishman follows the life of Frank Sheeran (Robert De Niro), a meat delivery driver who gets caught up in the life of the mob when he meets Russell Bufalino (Joe Pesci). After carrying out several hits for them and gaining their trust, Frank eventually works his way up to the infamous Jimmy Hoffa (Al Pacino) and becomes a staple in mediating disputes and serving the needs of everyone. This film is framed through narration by Sheeran as he is in an elderly home recounting his life and everything that happened. The way that Scorsese frames this narrative is so engaging and was a very smart choice to bring all of the plot points together and provide for a solemn and often sorrowful ending. Scorsese is quite obviously one of the most masterful directors in film history and while some might view this film's length and amount of storytelling too extravagant, he has more than enough earned the right to tell this incredible story in its entirety. I will not lie and say that I was completely tuned in the entire time, however, because three and a half hours to anyone is often difficult to get through, no matter the type of film. What I adore about his direction, however, is that it did not feel at all that long and I enjoyed every minute of it. I have seen 90-minute films that dragged on more than this one and the volume of content that Scorsese is able to smoothly incorporate into this film was vastly impressive. This also has to do in part with the iconic Thelma Schoonmaker's editing. Her longtime friendship and creative partnership with Scorsese is no secret and their efforts work unbelievably well together to flow this film from one intriguing scene to the next.
Spanning multiple generations and many years throughout Sheeran's life, this epic tale never seemed like it was off-topic and remained so close to these characters in order for the audience to really feel for them. His balance of drama and humor was fantastic and he is clearly able to translate this cinematic piece from its source material in the most entertaining ways possible. While Scorsese nails the tone of every scene and effectively blends everything together perfectly, my absolute favorite part was the comedy. This might be one of the funniest movies of the year and the way that humor is executed through the dialogue and the visual interactions is fantastic. The Irishman, despite its surface-level appearance as just another mob movie to unknowledgeable moviegoers, is also such a deep and moving story about the pains of getting older and reflecting on the choices someone has made in the past. Told through Sheeran's perspective the entire time, we see a whole different side of the mob through his involvement with these key people, especially Jimmy Hoffa. This leads to a lot of shocking moments and revelations that Sheeran has while telling his story which kept me on the edge of my seat, constantly learning something new about this time period. Everyone at some point in their life wonders what they could have done differently to affect the people around them and the audience gets such a wonderfully introspective look at this theme through Sheeran's eyes.
While Robert De Niro might be a favorite of Scorsese, there is no denying that this entire film is performed brilliantly by its entire main and supporting cast. De Niro, Pesci, and Pacino are all such electric, stupendous actors and they have never been better, especially in their scenes together. De Niro and Pesci in particular shine as their characters' friendship grows throughout the movie. One of the best themes of The Irishman is loyalty and the dedication that Sheeran showed to Bufalino throughout their entire lives is deadly, but even more strangely inspiring. To see De Niro and Pesci play these hardened mobsters that have known each other and done business together practically their whole lives is not just reflective of the actors themselves but made the cohesiveness of the story perfect. All of the supporting performances were fantastic as well, including Anna Paquin, Harvey Keitel, Jesse Plemons, and Ray Romano. The latter two are definitely not who I would have expected to be cast in a mobster film such as this, but they were excellent as their characters. As for Paquin, many people have been complaining that she only has one line in the entire film but to me, the fact that she was able to give one of the most emotional performances as a supporting character while almost entirely nonverbal just amplifies her talent as an actress. The CGI de-aging of these leads in the younger parts of their lives apparently took up most of this budget but I believe that it was both deserved and utilized. The de-aging looked surprisingly natural and thankfully, did not distract from the powerhouse performances from this legendary cast.
The Irishman is a fantastic story of one man getting involved with the mob and changing his life forever. With interweaving subplots and fascinating characters, this film proves to be an epic tale that will go down in history as one of Scorsese's absolute best modern masterpieces. Almost four hours might be a challenge for some people, but I promise that everyone will be greatly rewarded if they are able to stick it out to its grand end.
My Rating: ★★★★½
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