The Irishman Netflix Movie Review

The Irishman (2019)

Watch The Irishman on Netflix // Buy the book
Written by: Charles Brandt (book), Steven Zaillian (screenplay)
Directed by: Martin Scorsese
Starring: Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Joe Pesci, Harvey Keitel, Ray Romano, Bobby Cannavale, Anna Paquin, Stephen Graham, Jack Huston, Kathrine Narducci, Jesse Plemons, Domenick Lombardozzi
Rated: R
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Plot
Mob hit man Frank Sheeran recalls his time with the Buffalino family and possible involvement with the death of Jimmy Hoffa.

Verdict
This is a long movie, but it's never boring. This isn't just a story about Hoffa and Sheeran, it's also a story about mob life. The movie got better with every minute as all the pieces began to fit together. The length allows the movie to craft an intricate story. De Niro's performance is disappointing though blue contact lenses and CGI de-aging don't help. It's not a bad performance, just very stoic which may be the goal, but it's notable when all of the other performances stand out.
Watch it.

Review
Don't let the length deter you, this is a very good movie. It's too short to be a mini-series and is more suited to be presented as a movie anyway. No one complains about a ten hour television series.

This is a slow burn movie that I thought certainly could have been trimmed shorter as I was watching, but by the end I wouldn't change a thing. We're introduced to a lot of pieces and they all have a place. Frank Sheeran in a nursing home frames a car ride which frames Sheeran's life story. It's a bit strange with two framing devices, but has a purpose. This is never boring, slower moments still provide a lot of interest and are vital to the plot. They are slower in that this isn't wall to wall action, but with most of these performances that isn't necessary. One of the more impressive things is that the movie just keeps getting better with every minute.

Robert De Niro plays Frank Sheeran.

The story follows Frank Sheeran from delivery driver to mob fixer to head of his local union to jail and his release. Frank rises through the ranks because he does what he's told without question. That aspect of his loyalty is key later in the movie as you wonder if orders will test that loyalty. The movie doesn't delve into Frank's feelings or conflict, it's left up to the viewer.

Joe Pesci plays Russell Buffalino.

Al Pacino plays Jimmy Hoffa.

Frank becomes favored by Russell Buffalino played by Joe Pesci. Pesci does a great job playing against type. In gangster movies he's loud and brash, in this he's quiet and reserved, imparting of lot of strength to the character. Through Russell, Frank becomes friends with Jimmy Hoffa played by Al Pacino. Pacino is great as Hoffa. I had heard of Hoffa, but never knew just how much power he wielded, according to the movie Hoffa controlled millions in pension funds as the head of the Teamsters' Union. Hoffa is linked to the mob through loans and other ventures. After a jail sentence for jury tampering he's desperate to regain his power, something that worries the mob bosses as they don't know how far Hoffa will go.
Frank is the middleman to a lot of powerful people, tasked with calming Hoffa. Frank is good friends with Russell and Jimmy, but the mob has a hierarchy.

Young Frank.

Old Frank.

De Niro isn't very expressive in the movie. His character felt blank, which may be by design, Frank is a killer after all. The CGI de-aging was really good even if it robbed his face of emotion, but the most distracting thing was De Niro's eyes. Half way into the movie I googled "De Niro eye color." In the movie his eyes are blue, but they look strange. De Niro's eyes are brown, the blue eyes in the movie are contacts. Throughout the movie his eyes look dead. It's distracting.

While this isn't my favorite Scorsese movie, it's very good and one of Netflix's best. Scorsese gets an indulgence in length, something many directors wouldn't get and the CGI de-aging was rather expensive though it is part of the draw.

I love the ending. As big as Hoffa was, no one really knows him near thirty years later. Frank's nurse doesn't know Hoffa at all. As important as Frank and the people he knew were, now they're all gone and no one knows them. Frank is just a nobody in a nursing home. Frank did manage to outlast them all which is an achievement, and I suspect the reason why the movie made a point to note how and when so many of the mobsters featured were killed.
While everyone who Frank knew is gone, he's still estranged from his daughter. If he had shown his family the save devotion, maybe things could have been different.
I really like the ending. Time keeps moving, rendering almost everything unimportant.