The Irishman

The second-most critically-acclaimed film of 2019 (after Parasite) is the latest film by Martin Scorsese. Scorsese returns to the gangster film genre and to Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci (they had previously collaborated on Raging Bull, Goodfellas and Casino) in a three and a half hour film made for Netflix. 

The Irishman of the title is Frank Sheeran (De Niro), who becomes a hitman for the Pennsylvania mafia after meeting Russell Bufalino (Pesci), whose cousin, Bill (Ray Romano), a lawyer, had gotten Frank off on a major theft charge. Eventually, Frank, still working under Russell’s guidance, will become a trusted bodyguard of Jimmy Hoffa (Al Pacino), a challenging job (to say the least). Things go downhill from there (as they tend to do when you get mixed up with the mafia). 

In a film this long, there are many actors, but The Irishman is very much dominated by De Niro, Pacino and Pesci, so I won’t list other actors here. The quality of the acting, as one might expect, is top-notch. In particular, the performances of De Niro and Pesci are incredible (what can I say -  I’ve never been a Pacino fan, so wasn’t sure he was the best choice for Hoffa).

I’ll start by freely admitting that The Irishman is a masterpiece. The direction is superb, with every scene feeling like the work of a master, the pacing is spot-on (the film feels much shorter than it is), the cinematography is sublime, the score/music is perfect and the writing is sharp. Not that the film is flawless; I think some scenes were longer than they needed to be while others could have been longer (especially those involving the few women in the film). Frank’s relationships with his wives and daughters felt particularly under-developed. But these are minor complaints.

Nevertheless, as great an achievement as the always-engaging and intelligent The Irishman may be, and as fascinating as it is to watch the development of Frank’s relationship with Russell and Hoffa, the film didn’t really touch me (i.e. I didn’t love it). It’s possible to feel some sympathy for Frank, especially if you consider the possibility of PTSD from his time in WWII, but it wasn’t enough to keep me emotionally engaged and I’ve just never been a fan of the gangster genre (Leone’s Once Upon a Time in America is the only gangster film on my favourite shelf, which contains 350 titles). 

But if you like gangster films, you don’t want to miss The Irishman. Just don’t make the mistake of watching it on your laptop (or your phone!). It may be on Netflix, but it needs the largest screen you can find to appreciate its beauty. The Irishman gets ***+ -  ****. My mug is up.