Review of The Irishman (2019) by Sweens112 — 26 Nov 2019

A huge (and lengthy) swing and a miss from Scorsese, De Niro, and Netflix. The plot was meandering and directionless, the writing stale and regurgitated. There were several scenes involving dialogue between two characters in which they argued about minor inconsequential details, repeating those details back to one another through numerous camera changes, and the viewer is left wondering, "Did I just sit through 30 seconds of another meaningless conversation about whether the mob ‘really means it this time'"? I would need to watch those scenes again to be sure (I won't) but it didn't seem like those scenes had any higher purpose other than showcasing the editor's boredom with the subject matter (or maybe Netflix's budgetary desire to limit the best directors and actors of our generation to one take).

Aside from complaints about De Niro's believability as Irish, his acting was wooden. Pacino occasionally shone as Jimmy Hoffa despite some difficult dialogue, Joe Pesci was solid in an understated performance, and Stephen Graham turned in a typically excellent, nuanced portrayal of simmering anger beneath an outwardly gregarious exterior. There are a couple superior moments, one involving a vodka-spiked watermelon, and another with some great dialogue between Louis Cancelmi and the perpetually confused Jesse Plemons regarding the provenance of a nonexistent fish. Ray Romano was largely forgettable—although that may have been the point—but appearances by Anna Paquin, Harvey Keitel, and Bobby Canivale were entirely wasted. At three hours and thirty minutes long, I kept hoping there was enough time for a clear throughline to emerge, but as the movie shifted in the last half hour to bludgeoning the viewer over the head with scenes of a man contemplating his death and haggling over caskets, I realized that like De Niro's Irishman, there would be no redemption for this movie. Instead, it is simply Scorsese's meandering, aimless final run with some of his mobster-portraying pals.

Unfortunately The Irishman is not even close to being in the same league as his other work. If you'll excuse me, I need to go watch Goodfellas, Gangs of New York, and The Departed on repeat for the next several days to erase the memory of this dud. It'll be a much better use of my (and anyone else's) time.