Review of The Irishman (2019) by Jluis_001 — 19 Nov 2019

When talking about Martin Scorsese's movies, people usually talk about gangster movies. This is something that in a unfortunate measure encloses the director in a small niche which is somewhat sad considering he's a director who has dabbled many other genres but obviously several of his most famous movies are gangster films. Now with The Irishman I think to some extent Scorsese delivers his dream epic and also an end point.

I'm not saying I think he won't make a gangster movie again but where can he go next after this one? I can't help watching this movie as the twilight of a career for everyone involved. I mean from Niro to Pacino to Joe Pesci and Scorsese himself.

As I said The Irishman is his epic, not the best film of his filmography but that doesn't diminish it in any way. After all, I think that for all his devoted followers like me, this is the movie that was needed of him: A phenomenal drama and at the same time a resolution.

A film that transports you to films like Goodfellas and Casino but still offering something new and rewarding and that's surprising because if you consider the simple core of the movie - The career of a hitman like Frank Sheeran - Scorsese transforms it into a story that involves: Politics, corruption, violence and death.

Frank is the center of the story and all the way we go with him takes us to his sad and lonely final step because the story never ceases to be his, but that's the beauty of The Irishman. Externally it might seem like a very practical story but the whole journey we go through and all the events that it encompasses make it a fabulous experience.

The duration? Yes, it's huge but any tested film lover I think has seen movies of the same length or even longer so I don't think it's a problem. But the casual viewer? Maybe it could be intimidating but it is worth it. Honestly it's worth it. It's worth it for the performances, for the story, for its direction and for its ambition.

And what else can I say, if a movie involving Martin Scorsese, Robert De Niro, Al Pacino and Joe Pesci doesn't move your interest?

To be honest if that doesn't do it then saying anything else is useless.