Film Review: THE IRISHMAN (2019): A Mobster Epic that Justifies its Indulgences

The Irishman Review

The Irishman (2019) Film Review, a movie directed by Martin Scorsese, and starring Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Joe Pesci, Harvey Keitel, Bobby Cannavale, Ray Romano, Jesse Plemons, Anna Paquin, Aleksa Palladino, Jack Huston, Stephen Graham, Sebastian Maniscalco, and Paul Ben-Victor.

The Irishman is Goodfellas meets Boyhood, or is that too glib? It took a long time for that kernel of truth to reveal itself, longer than most. Once it did, however, this 209-minute monster by director Martin Scorsese made some sense. I have my criticisms – for such a lengthy picture a number of threads are underdeveloped, motivations that would ring loud, and clear in a shorter movie get half-forgotten beneath its mass.

But for all its excess, the performances never let Scorsese overwhelm himself. Not by Robert De Niro, who only comes into his own in its closing moments (though also its most important moment), but by Al Pacino and Joe Pesci, who embody their parts to the fullest possible extent.

And once you’ve received the narrative’s necessary scope, even the excess seems to have a broader point, a near cradle-to-the-grave life in cinema that matures into mediation. Not the most penetrating, not the most thoughtful, but Goodfellas meets Boyhood – that’s enough.

Rating: 8/10

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