Film: The Irishman

GENRE: Crime, Drama, Biography

RATING: R for language and violence
RUNTIME: 3 hours and 29 minutes

STARRING: Robert DeNiro (Raging Bull, Casino, Goodfellas, Joker)

Al Pacino (The Godfather series), Joe Pesci (Goodfellas, Casino)

DIRECTOR: Martin Scorsese (Goodfellas, Casino, The Departed)

WRITER: Steven Zallian (Schindler’s List, American Gangster)

PLOT: A hitman recounts his involvement with the mob, the union and the slaying of Jimmy Hoffa.      

FULL DISCLOSURE: I love seeing these people work together.

STORY STUFF: Scorsese knows how to tell an engaging mob story. The characters are dynamic, the violence is brutal at times, the dialogue is snappy and there’s a good flow with some artistic flashes to keep you on your toes. I will say the pace is a little slow at times and the running time is too long. The last twenty to thirty minutes tested my patience as it slowly wrapped up. I was also lost a little with the talk of union politics and the sheer number of mobsters in this film.   

ACTING STUFF: The acting is incredible. DeNiro plays to his strengths and Pacino chews the scenery as the bombastic Jimmy Hoffa but the real stand-out for me is Pesci. He came out of retirement for this role as a favour to Scorsese and I’m so glad he did. He is spell-binding in his restraint as Russell Bufalino. While I expected his hot-headed loudmouth from Goodfellas, I was pleasantly surprised with his calm leadership and menacing performance. I hope he gets an Oscar for this. There’s a great amount of actors from all across Scorsese’s previous endeavors including his TV ventures. It was awesome to see Stephen Graham in a fun role after his Capone days from Boardwalk Empire. And Ray Romano, who played a sleaze in Vinyl, is a delight as the mob’s lawyer. He picks such fun roles now. Great stuff all around.

ARTISTIC STUFF: Scorsese always picks out great music for his films. “In the Still of the Night” is a highlight for me. The addition of text explaining how each mobster dies started abruptly for me but became more fun as the film continued. There’s some classic long takes and interesting cuts and freezes. The kind of interesting filmmaking you would expect from Scorsese. Good use of explosions as well.

VERDICT: Four stars out of five

SEE IT IF: You enjoy mob movie masterpieces

UPCOMING REVIEWS: The Good Liar, Knives Out

Film: A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

GENRE: Drama, Biography

RATING: PG for a brief fight and mild language
RUNTIME: 1 hour and 48 minutes

STARRING: Tom Hanks (Forrest Gump, Saving Private Ryan, Big)

Matthew Rhys (The Americans), Susan Kelechi Watson (This Is Us)

DIRECTOR: Marielle Heller (Can You Ever Forgive Me?)

WRITERS: Micah Fitzerman-Blue & Noah Harpster (newcomers)

PLOT: Based on a true story, a cynical journalist is sent to do a story on Fred Rogers and a friendship ensues.      

FULL DISCLOSURE: I used to love Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood.

STORY STUFF: Whenever they showed people reacting to meeting Mister Rogers for the first time, it brought a huge smile to my face. There’s a reverence, a giddiness, a need to pay homage to a man who helped so many children understand tough issues. I absolutely loved all the interactions with Fred Rogers, but the movie is not just about him. It’s actually more about Lloyd Vogel (a placeholder for real-life Esquire journalist Tom Junod) and his family issues while interviewing the television icon. The pacing does drag a bit at times, but watching Tom Hanks channel Fred Rogers is worth the wait.

ACTING STUFF: A reviewer has said that ‘Hanks was born to play this role.’ While Hanks has played many memorable characters, this real person – Fred Rogers, will go down as the perfecting casting choice. He plays the gentleness and warmth so well. I did find, however, that he sometimes looked a little too serious – like he was concentrating on embodying Mr. Rogers – and missed the twinkle in his eye. Rhys plays the reporter well, but I still think of him as Philip Jennings from The Americans (as well as Watson’s Beth Pearson from This Is Us). I didn’t know Chris Cooper was in this, playing Lloyd’s father. He always brings a powerful performance. But it’s Hanks that keeps you glued to the screen.

ARTISTIC STUFF: At first, I was concerned that my theatre was messing around with the screen size but then clued in that sections involving the famous Mr. Roger’s models were on a smaller scale (no pun intended) than the rest of movie. I enjoyed the use of models as establishing shots throughout. There is not much to say about the artistry of the film except that the set is nostalgically accurate. Also the final shot is artsy and interesting as Mr. Rogers plays the piano.   

VERDICT: Four stars out of five

SEE IT IF: You want big smiles and are not creeped out by puppets

UPCOMING REVIEWS: Knives Out

Film: Ford v Ferrari

GENRE: Action, Drama

RATING: PG-13 for some language
RUNTIME: 2 hours and 32 minutes

STARRING: Matt Damon (The Martian, Jason Bourne, Invictus)

Christian Bale (Dark Knight, Vice, The Fighter), Jon Bernthal (Punisher)

DIRECTOR: James Mangold (Logan, Walk the Line, 3:10 to Yuma)

WRITERS: Jason Keller (Escape Plan, Mirror Mirror),

Jez Butterworth (Spectre), John Henry Butterworth (Edge of Tomorrow)

PLOT: After an insult, Ford spends money to get their car to beat Ferrari at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1966.     

FULL DISCLOSURE: The lead actors and trailer sold me on the film

STORY STUFF: What a rip-roaring good time. I enjoy a good underdog story. I found myself rooting for the characters the whole time. The fact that it’s a true story is the icing on the cake. There’s intensity, drama, action, feel good moments and a healthy dose of humour. The running time is a little long. It takes a while to get to Le Mans; I guess as it should be. I don’t watch NASCAR but I was thoroughly entertained and invested.

ACTING STUFF: Damon and Bale are phenomenal. They have great on-screen chemistry (especially when they’re fighting with groceries). Each of them brings so much life to their roles. Bale plays with a fun accent and milks every eccentricity he can. Damon is solid and brings so much heart to his role. Everyone turns in a top-notch performance but the two leads are the reason to watch.    

ARTISTIC STUFF: I’ll just say that the racing is well shot. Your heart starts pumping into overdrive watching these cars perform. The speed, the shifting, the reactions, the sound. I will say that I found it hilarious when two racers are able to talk to each other mid-race near the beginning. There’s no way they can hear each other. There’s another scene where they talk over a revving beast of an engine. These people seem to have supersonic hearing.  

VERDICT: Five stars out of five

SEE IT IF: You enjoy racing, underdog stories or awesome acting.

UPCOMING REVIEWS: A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

Film: Terminator - Dark Fate

GENRE: Action, Sci-Fi

RATING: R for violence and language throughout
RUNTIME: 2 hours and 8 minutes

STARRING: Linda Hamilton (Terminator 1 & 2, Dante’s Peak, Chuck)

Mackenzie Davis (Halt & Catch Fire), Arnold Schwarzenegger (T1-3)

DIRECTOR: Tim Miller (Deadpool)

WRITERS: David S. Goyer (Batman Begins, Blade, Dark City),

Justin Rhodes (newcomer) & Billy Ray (Gemini Man, Hunger Games)

PLOT: Sarah Connor and a cyborg hybrid must protect a young girl from a new Terminator.  

FULL DISCLOSURE: Loved Terminator 2. The rest, not so much.

STORY STUFF: With James Cameron contributing to the story and producing and ignoring everything post T2, this story was pretty good. It’s not as good as T2 but it has some solid action scenes and interesting plot points. There are definitely slow parts and some plot holes. There were more than a few times when I was asking ‘why are you not doing ____”. Lots of fleeing in this film. It was like a violent Planes, Trains and Automobiles with a dose of Mexican border detainment.

ACTING STUFF: Everyone does there best ‘end-of-the-world’ intense dialogue. The tone gets a tad repetitive. Arnold is pretty fun and has some humourous lines. Not much else to say.   

ARTISTIC STUFF: Great action sequences. Lots of explosions and hand to CG metallic hand combat. While the new terminator has crazy skills, he doesn’t seem to use them when fighting Arnold.  Also, interesting how a destructive fight can happen in a plant and not many people react.

VERDICT: Three stars out of five

SEE IT IF: You enjoyed Terminator 2 and wanna see more stuff like that.

UPCOMING REVIEWS: Ford vs Ferrari