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