The Irishman (Review & Commentary)

Transcribed directly from an audio recording

I had the chance to check out The Irishman starring Robert De Niro a few mornings ago and wanted to spend a few moments discussing my thoughts on the film. Generally speaking, I enjoy this film. I would give it a strong rating, somewhere around eight and a half or nine out of ten. I feel that this is a spiritual successor to Goodfellas and Casino and would consider this film, the completion of a spiritual trilogy. If you enjoy those two films, you will enjoy this one. There is a very similar and familiar dynamic with Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci, and of course, the typical Martin Scorsese vibe. I do have a couple of minor criticisms of the film, but they are just that, minor. The first one is the runtime. This film is about three and a half hours altogether and it feels long, even for a streaming film at home. It’s a commitment of time and you will probably want to watch this film in one viewing instead of breaking it up due to the nature of the story. Goodfellas and Casino are also longer films but not quite as long as this one. For me, the third act dragged a little and the film exceeded itself by probably thirty to forty-five minutes. Essentially the climax occurs and we continue experiencing the aftermath from the perspective of our lead character portrayed by De Niro. With that said, the film takes quite a bit of time to build to the climax in the first place. All said and done, I think we could have seen a three-hour film and cut a little bit of flab in certain places. Alternatively, perhaps we could have seen a two-part film or even a three-part mini-series. In my humble opinion, over three hours is too long for cinema, and albeit I enjoy other films that exceeded three hours, like Titanic and Avengers: Endgame, this film felt a little too long. My other criticism is with some of the visual effects. Visual effects are used in this film to de-age our main cast of characters because they are telling a four-decade or so long story from their late twenties/early thirties into their eighties type thing. With that said, the effects are good ninety-five percent of the time, however, the other five percent of the time, the effects are incredibly noticeable and severely underwhelming. The main cast of actors are into their seventies, so effects had to be used. The alternative would have been casting younger actors to portray the characters at a younger age, which wouldn’t have worked for this film. Further to this point, in Goodfellas and Casino, the same situation occurred, but at that time, the actors were in their forties and could use makeup to age themselves forward instead of de-ageing themselves backwards. This was more convincing then, but I completely understand the necessity of having to use visual effects for this case given their current age. We’ve come to a time where these types of effects are used well and for the most part, are effective and convincing. Visual effects are usually quite seamless in films these days, generally speaking, but in this film, occasionally there is just something off with a few scenes and I can’t quite tell what it is. It left me feeling a little bewildered, to say the least. There is something disconnected in the way the actors moved versus their de-age faces. As I mentioned, a majority of the effects work in the film, but when you do notice that something is off, it is beyond obvious.

The Cast

In regard to the acting, everyone again does a phenomenal job per usual. Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci and Al Pacino all give legendary performances as we are used to seeing by now. I will say that there is not a bad piece of acting in this film and I give a special shout out to Joe Pesci whose performance is beyond stellar. He really shines in this film and it’s great to see his return to acting after taking some time off. The supporting cast also does excellent work, with Ray Romano doing a surprisingly serious role. Known for his comedy, he really proves himself in a strong supporting role. His performance is outstanding. Harvey Keitel has what I would say is a glorified cameo in this film but it’s nice to see him with Robert De Niro again in a Martin Scorsese film. Watching both of them together is always a treat. My one minor comment about the acting in this film is that Al Pacino’s performance as Jimmy Hoffa really reminds me of his performance in Dick Tracy as “Big Boy” Caprice. This isn’t really a complaint as I enjoy his performance in Dick Tracy but more of an observation that his over-the-top acting is similar in approach and nuance to his other character. We’ve also seen Jack Nicholson take on the role of Jimmy Hoffa which is also excellent but you will notice major differences in both actors’ portrayals of the character. Generally speaking, everyone including the large supporting cast does an outstanding job.

Final Thoughts

This film is excellent, bottom line. If you have about four hours to commit to a film, check this one out. I’ve said it many times before, but I’m glad we are seeing this type of quality on streaming platforms these days. It makes the fifteen to twenty dollar per month membership well worth the price. Ten to fifteen years ago, we would have seen this in theatres for at least a month. In 2019, this film had a very limited release in theatres and went straight to Netflix which is not necessarily a bad thing given it’s runtime. I’m glad that streaming platforms, in general, are receiving quality films with larger budgets from well-known filmmakers, and legendary actors. Conversely, though, I have read some criticism online about this film not providing anything new or fresh in regard to a Martin Scorsese film and I would have to agree. This film is exactly what you would expect from a Robert De Niro and Martin Scorsese film which I don’t necessarily think is a bad thing. Generally speaking, audiences have an expectation when watching a particular filmmaker. If you watch a Quentin Tarantino film, you know what you’re getting. The same is said here. Martin Scorsese delivers the same level of craftsmanship and nuance that he is known for providing, an albeit it’s not overly fresh, it’s exactly what you would expect from him. Some have also said that this film is boring and I would agree to a certain extent as well. This film takes it’s time for sure and is meant for mature audiences. If you have the time and patience and are wanting to see a long drawn out story and development of characters, this one is for you and if you haven’t seen Goodfellas or Casino, check those out first. Overall, I recommend this film.