Ever since the announcement of a Scorsese film starring Robert DeNiro, Joe Pesci, and Al Pacino, film lovers have had The Irishman in the back of their minds, patiently waiting in anticipation. Martin Scorsese is no stranger to the gangster film genre, so it comes as no surprise that he chose to return to it with The Irishman. He brings with him his long time collaborators, Robert DeNiro and Joe Pesci, and for the first time, Al Pacino, for the best gangster film this decade. DeNiro plays Frank Sheeran, a truck driver, who gets involved with Russell Bufalino (Joe Pesci), a high ranking member in a mob family. This connection eventually leads to Frank getting a job with a Teamster representative, Jimmy Hoffa (Al Pacino), who is involved with the mob. What many thought would be another gangster film from the legendary filmmaker, The Irishman is both an exciting gangster epic and an output for Scorsese to reflect on his career and the gangster genre where he found so much success.
First, the elephant in the room: the three and a half hour run time. Though the time didn’t exactly fly by, it also didn’t feel like any of that time was wasted. Everything included in the film adds to the story being told and nothing in the final cut can afford to be lost. The movie is a bit of a slow burn, but it never slows down enough to lose any of its momentum. It feels like the film is constantly moving forwards, even towards the end. The performances are outstanding. Nobody will ever be better for a Scorsese long shot than DeNiro. DeNiro is a master at conveying so much with so little and it easily seen in his amazing performance. The other big standout is Al Pacino as Jimmy Hoffa. Although he looks nothing like the real person, he is able to transform himself into Jimmy Hoffa, and as a result, his portrayal is utterly enthralling. Less enchanting however, is the de-aging of DeNiro and others. While it doesn’t look bad, during flashbacks, you have to look at supporting characters to figure out when the scene is taking place because DeNiro always looks at least 50 no matter how much they de-age him.
From beginning to end, Scorsese never lets the audience forget about the ever-looming presence of death. You can feel the weight of every loss whether it’s the death of a character or the death of relationships between characters. Everyone loses something by the end of the film. All the lower ranking mobsters are introduced with text about how and where they died; most of them young and murdered for one reason or another. The ones that do survive are in prison or die alone, those who once had it all are left with nothing. In his past films, Scorsese dawdles on the the glitz and glamour of the lavish lives lived by gangsters, and while that is present in The Irishman, what’s more prominent is the fall of the gangster. He lingers on the fall by illustrating how the gangsters who do live long enough to die old slowly lose everything until they have nothing left but themselves.
This infatuation with the fall of the gangster feels like Scorsese is looking back at his career and the image of the gangster. With Goodfellas, Casino, and The Departed, Scorsese made it cool to be a gangster, and the lifestyle they live something to aspire for. The Irishman warns that this fame and fortune is temporary and will eventually come to an anti-climactic end. Hopefully this is not his last film, however, The Irishman would be a strong ending to an accomplished career.
The shots are beautifully crafted, the performances are captivating, and the film as a whole is a wonderful film that only Martin Scorsese could craft this elegantly. Martin Scorsese has once again hit the nail on the head and created a masterpiece that will go down as one of his best. With the very limited theater release, I highly recommend finding a theater showing it, otherwise, on November 27th, sit down for three and a half hours and enjoy a piece of “real cinema”.
4.5/5 STARS