Martin Scorsese has made several mob movies in the past, although less than you might expect. His filmography is made up of a variety of films, but those “gangster” pictures are considered his bread and butter. Now, he’s back with The Irishman, which is his first film with Robert DeNiro since Casino (1995). In many ways, The Irishman feels like a culmination of his entire career. It’s a picture that reflects upon both the past and the future, and yet it feels wholly refreshing at the same time. It’s a wonderful finale with legendary cast members.Advertisement: Content continues below…
The Irishman is based loosely off the true story of truck driver and hitman, Frank Sheeran (Robert DeNiro), and his undeniable loyalty to the Philadelphia crime family. At the beginning of the film, Sheeran, now in a nursing home, reflects on his life. I don’t know how accurate this story actually is. All I can tell you is, Sheeran presents it as one wild tale. The movie is action-packed and runs over three and a half hours long, but it never outstayed its welcome for me.
There are a trio of terrific performances throughout The Irishman.Robert DeNiro gives one of his best performances as a weary eyed man who has seen and committed a lot of horrific crimes. The CGI used to recreate him as a young man was not as distracting as I expected, however there were parts where the old and young DeNiro weren’t really that indistinguishable from each other. Al Pacino as Jimmy Hoffa really livens up the screen. Pacino’s performance as Teamster Jimmy Hoffa is classic and includes some great shouting matches, but then he also tones things down, reminding me of his more subtle performances, which I haven’t seen in a long, long time. It’s also great to see Joe Pesci back on the screen as mobster Russell Bufalino. Scorsese had to basically beg Pesci to do the film. Pesci looks older throughout, and he might just be the MVP (most valuable player) of the film for me, as he brings a certain calm and deadly nature as Sheeran’s boss. His role in this film is much different from any of his previous Scorsese performances. Other actors, such as Harvey Keitel, Ray Romano, Anna Paquin, Bobby Cavanale, and Jesse Plemmons, also add to the film’s strengths and are used appropriately given the context of the story.
This movie is wickedly funny with a typical sense of dark humor commonly found in Scorsese’s crime epics. I particularly smiled at the recurring gag involving Sheeran throwing his guns into a river, so as to throw the police off his trail, while also pointing out hat there is now enough machinery down below for a small army. It’s this kind of mocking humor that really makes the storyline move along nicely.
The costumes and settings are fabulous, as you might expect from a period piece. They’re impeccable, down to how they made the hotdogs at Lum’s, an early fast food restaurant chain. The cinematography didn’t jump out at me at first, but it does give the movie a really great somber feeling. The soundtrack is littered with classic tunes, typical of a Scorsese film of this type, and it’s used excellently, but there was also, surprisingly, an original score (neither Goodfellas or Casino had original scores) by Robbie Robertson. Most of the original music consists of a repetitive sounding rock harmonica theme played in montages. Robbie Robertson, best known as lead guitarist and songwriter for The Band, has collaborated many times with Scorsese.
With The Irishman, Scorsese effectively closes the gate on his “crime” series of films, and if this is the last one he ever makes, then it’s a good film to go out on. It’s a stylish, yet sombering film at points with a lot of themes. Tomorrow is the last day you can see The Irishman at The Nugget in Hanover, but it is also on Netflix. Depending on how much you can stomach a lot of violence, I highly recommend you check it out.
Film Nerd Dan 