Martin Scorsese (The Departed, The Wolf of Wall Street) is easily one of the best directors of all time. It’s a miracle he has only won the Academy Award for directing only one time, as his worst film could generally be considered better than the average director’s best film. While he has worked with Robert De Niro (Taxi Driver, Raging Bull), Joe Pesci (Goodfellas, Raging Bull), and Harvey Keitel (Mean Streets, Taxi Driver) several times before, he has never worked with Al Pacino (The Godfather, Dog Day Afternoon) … until now. In what could be considered his final word on the gangster film, Scorsese brings all four of these legendary actors together in his adaptation of I Heard You Paint Houses, by true crime author Charles Brandt (Donnie Brasco: Unfinished Business, The Right to Remain Silent). Steve Zaillian (Gangs of New York, Moneyball) adapted Brandt’s book for the big screen (and the small screen, as it is a Netflix Original Film).
In The Irishman we follow Robert De Niro’s character, Frank Sheeran, throughout his life as he swims through the underworld of America’s Mafia. Most of the film is told in the past tense, as Frank recounts his life and his possible involvement in the disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa, played by Pacino. Very much like Goodfellas, this story is a rags to riches sort of tale. Frank starts out as a union truck driver who ultimately works his way through the various ranks within the union. The film is set against the backdrop of the rise of Jimmy Hoffa and the Teamsters Union.
The Irishman is a technical achievement due to the fantastic de-aging effects for the various actors, specifically Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci’s characters. Not only that, but it is easily one of Scorsese’s best works. While the film is just under three and a half hours, it is a very concise story, with little to no wasted screen-time. Although I did find something online which breaks up the film into four distinct episodes, similar to how Netflix split up Quentin Tarantino’s The Hateful Eight into four episodes. Watching it this way did feel a little easier, as I know it is tough to find almost four free hours in a day to sit down and watch a movie. Eventually I do want to sit down and watch the movie in its entirety.
The acting in the film is absolutely phenomenal. While Robert De Niro didn’t get nominated, both Joe Pesci and Al Pacino have been nominated for an Academy Award for their portrayals of their characters, Russell Buffalino and Jimmy Hoffa, respectively. Even though De Niro didn’t get nominated (it is a bloated Best Actor race this year) he plays his part to perfection. He plays a sort of tough guy who will go to extreme lengths to protect his family, but the emotion that he shows is palpable even though he never sheds a tear. It’s truly a wonderful performance.
As for Pesci, it is one of his most understated roles I have ever seen him perform. He isn’t the loose cannon, as so many of his other Scorsese-film characters are. On the contrary, he is in complete control of his emotions throughout the entire film, and when he needs to express any emotion, he has somebody do the dirty work for him. Pacino, on the other hand, portrays Hoffa as an absolute stark raving mad lunatic. He is extremely uneven, as anything can set him off, which makes him more like Pesci’s usual roles in Scorsese films. I will neither confirm nor deny what that says about Hoffa’s chances of making it to the end of the film.
Tongue-in-cheek humor aside, the film is excellently shot and edited. Rodrigo Prieto (The Wolf of Wall Street,Babel), who has worked with Scorsese since The Wolf of Wall Street, was the director of photography, and his shots work to further the story. On various occasions throughout the film, the camera works to tell the story more effectively than the dialogue. Not only that, but the shots are absolutely gorgeous and pristine. The film was shot half digitally, and half on Arri film cameras.
Thelma Schoonmaker (Raging Bull, The Departed) has edited every Scorsese film since Raging Bull in 1980, which she consequently won an Oscar for. Similarly to the cinematography, her editing style ingeniously conveys information to the audience that dialogue simply could not achieve. At one point Russel Buffalino tells Frank that a character said something disrespectful to him and that it crossed a line. Instead of showing Frank respond verbally, the very next shot is a god’s eye view of a bed with a bevy of uniquely and neatly arranged firearms. The implication is very clear. This guy is about to get whacked. Schoonmaker has made a career by working with Scorsese, and it is one of the reasons the majority of his films are so well received. It makes sense, as she has won three Academy Awards during her standing collaboration with Martin Scorsese.
Similarly to other Scorsese gangster films, the music in the film is a rag tag combination of popular songs that fit the mood of the scene, with a little score added in to make the film unique. Robbie Robertson (The Wolf of Wall Street, The Color of Money) works in the music department as well as composing the repeating themes throughout the film. The score is a bluesy harmonica mainly playing throughout the various montage sequences, which usually foreshadows a killing or dark action of some kind. The other main theme is “In the Still of the Night,” by The Five Saints, which plays throughout the film in various degrees as well.
Overall, I believe The Irishman is an extraordinarily good film. I’ve seen it on plenty of top ten lists, but I’m not sure I would put it on mine, as the gangster film is kind of overdone at this point, and a little unnecessary in my opinion. It’s essentially the same story as Goodfellas and Casino. That being said, it is a technical achievement and one of Scorsese’s most well-done films, although the ending is a little weird, in this author’s humble opinion. Either way I recommend it to fans of gangster films and Scorsese fans in general. You won’t be disappointed… just make sure you have the time to watch it!
MPAA Rating: Rated R for pervasive language and strong violence
Runtime: 209 Minutes
Producers: Tribeca Productions, Sikelia Productions, and Winkler Films
Distributed by: Netflix
