Nothing To Say Here
  • Home
  • Us
  • Dave's Movie & TV Reviews
  • Shana's Book Reviews
  • Natalie's Humor
  • Get In Touch
  • Home
  • Us
  • Dave's Movie & TV Reviews
  • Shana's Book Reviews
  • Natalie's Humor
  • Get In Touch

Review of The Irishman

12/9/2019

0 Comments

 
By Dave B.
Picture
The Irishman (Netflix) gives a fictionalized account of the life of Teamster official Frank Sheeran (Robert De Niro) as he balances his friendship with the head of the Bufalino crime family, Russell Bufalino (Joe Pesci), with his loyalty to his friend and Teamster President Jimmy Hoffa (Al Pacino). 
Picture
Since The Irishman is a VERY long movie, I’ll try to keep this review relatively short. For starters, I think it’s absurd that this movie would receive serious consideration for Academy Award for Best Picture. Yes, it’s a good movie. Yes, it’s compelling throughout its 209 minute runtime. Yes, there are some fantastic performances. Yes, the overall craftsmanship and directorial ability that are on display are masterful. But as far as mob scripts go, The Irishman’s is average and personally, I think that anyone who would put this film in the pantheon of gangster movies is out of their mind. It’s just too long and too predictable to be considered one of the best films of 2019, in my opinion.
Picture
That said, there are at least 3 aspects of The Irishman that make it’s excessive runtime more than tolerable. The first is that there are some truly stellar performances. I’m sure a lot of people will tell you that De Niro’s performance is great, and it is, but to me, Pesci steals the show. He quietly dominates every scene that he’s in and imbues his character with a melancholy dignity that permeates the mood of the entire film. Secondly, The Irishman embodies the very definition of masterful craftmanship. Every scene, every song, every camera angle is crafted with an uncommon amount of care and skill. This film shows Martin Scorsese’s technical skills at their very best. And the third thing that makes The Irishman a good movie is that although it’s fairly mundane as a gangster flick, it offers brilliant insight into the dynamics of male friendships and compellingly shows how difficult it can be for someone to do things that they must do when they don’t want to do them. The emotional resonance of the film with viewers increases as the movie progresses, making it’s 3+ hour runtime feel not nearly as long as it actually is.
Picture
In closing, The Irishman is a very good (but not great) film. There is zero chance that I would have been able to sit through it in a theater, so I’m glad that Netflix got it released directly to its subscribers as quickly as it did. And this movie is very easy to recommend, especially for fans of mob movies and those who appreciate strong acting performances and outstanding directorial skill. That said, don’t believe the hype: Even a spectacular cast and director don’t make The Irishman one of the best films of 2019 nor one of the best gangster movies ever.
Rating: 8/10
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    I have no clue what I'm doing, but I'll keep doing whatever it is to the best of my ability.

    Categories

    All
    10 Out Of 10
    Action
    All Ages
    Amazon
    Animated
    Comedy
    Crime
    Disney
    Documentary
    Drama
    Educational
    Fantasy
    Foreign Language
    HBO
    Horror/Thriller
    Hulu
    List
    Marvel
    Musical
    Mystery
    Netflix
    Other
    Premieres
    Reality
    Romance
    RomCom
    Satire
    Science Fiction
    Short Film
    War
    Western
    Zombies

    Archives

    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018

    RSS Feed

Site powered by Weebly. Managed by SiteGround