THE IRISHMAN
To say that The Irishman is a long and winding film would be an understatement. The three hour saga follows the life of Robert De Niro's Frank, a truck driver turned mob hit man who finds himself embroiled in a teamster power struggle. At least, I think that's the plot of the film. It carried on at such a glacial pace that I had a hard time keeping track of what was actually happening. Or why it was even happening in the first place. It really felt like one monologue about power after another with a dash of violent shootings sprinkled in and a side of angry men in restaurants.
A good gangster movie should make you feel like the main character has no other option than to burn everything down. The Godfather, The Departed- there's at least a point to all the violence and strife. Characters are backed into a corner and have no choice but to go scorched earth on everyone. With The Irishman there was no sense of that urgency, no real reason why everyone was fighting other than fragile egos. If I wanted to watch men posturing about being tough and arguing over who has more power, I'd turn on CSPAN.
I did enjoy Robert De Niro, but he's one of those rare actors who is incapable of giving a bad performance. He could star in Sharknado 7 and be brilliant. The problem with The Irishman is not the actors but the material. There are too many subplots that are all similar and seemingly important for a few scenes before being moved on from. It’s the kind of story telling that would make your head spin if it didn’t happen at such a slow pace and I was not impressed. Really this movie is just old men playing at their former selves- trying to recapture the roles that made them all great in the first place-and it ultimately falls flat. Which is too bad because Scorsese is so talented and gifted in the art of the gangster film that I expected more from him than a 3 hour epic that left me with more questions than answers. I'm still not really sure what the point of this movie was and what story was trying to be told. In the end, it is worth attempting to watch out of respect for Scorsese's craft and De Niro's performance. Just don't expect the kind of mob movie magic the two have previously made together.
FRANKLY: The Irishman is a long and unnecessarily twisting story that ultimately falls short of gangster glory. 2.5/5.