Saturday, April 4, 2020

The Irishman


Directed by Martin Scorsese.
2019. Rated R, 209 minutes.
Cast: Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, Al Pacino, Ray Romano, Bobby Cannavale, Harvey Keitel, Stephen Graham, Anna Paquin, Stephanie Kurtzuba, Kathrine Narducci, Jesse Plemons

The Irishman follows the rise and fall of real-life mobster turned teamster Frank Sheeran (De Niro). The story picks up just as he is getting his foot in the door with the mafia by becoming a hit-man. It continues throughout the rest of Sheeran's life. This includes a stretch of time where he gets close to some of the mob's top bosses, in particular Russell Buffalino (Pesci). This association eventually places Frank near the top of the Teamster and right next to none other than Jimmy Hoffa (Pacino). And, well, let's just say all of this happens before Giant Stadium was built.

The latest in a long line of New York City based crime dramas from the legendary director Martin Scorcese stretches itself just a hair under three and a half hours long. This is both a gift and a curse. The most obvious blessing is that we get to spend a great of time with three acting giants and a bunch of other big time talent, all giving wonderful performances. De Niro, a legend in his own right, is in the lead. He is great again, here, but comes up just a bit short for reasons we'll discuss a bit later. Now, it's time to praise Al Pacino and the temporarily-out-of-retirement Joe Pesci. Pacino does what Pacino does and makes Hoffa a larger-than-life presence, bombastic - filled with passion and verve. This is the star at is full wattage. Pesci takes the opposite path. Unlike his most well-known characters, he makes Buffalino the picture of subtle authority. There are no grand gestures, obscenity-laced rants, or violent overreactions, just a quiet gravitas that let us know that he is not a man to be trifled with. Both he and Pacino often leave De Niro fighting to carve out a little bit of screen to call his own. This is an impressive feat given we're not talking about some line-reader coasting along on a pretty headshot. I mean, we're talking Bobby D!


I have to stress again, that De Niro is not bad in the lead. In fact, he's quite good. Unfortunately, the writing, and possibly even Scorsese, fail him. Scorsese is well known for making New York's grimiest era spill from the screen into our laps. However, his real magic is that the protagonists of these littered concrete lined microcosms of the American dream gone astray are people we come to root for even though we know we shouldn't. Something about them compels us to look beyond their troubling actions and embrace them. Travis Bickle (Taxi Driver) has issues, but we know he wants to make the world a better place. Henry Hill (GoodFellas) is hopelessly loyal until he realizes his allegiance is misplaced. Jordan Belfort (The Wolf of Wall Street) is endlessly charismatic. If Scorsese couldn't make us love his main character, he made us hate them. No one sits through Raging Bull and comes away liking Jake La Motta. We may pity him, but whatever feelings the director engenders in us, they're strong. Sheeran never quite has this effect on us. We know he's a bad guy, but we don't hate him. There isn't enough on the positive side to make us get behind him, either. He feels like a pawn in the midst of kings, his actions dictated by others. Therefore, after three hours the climax of the movie has already happened and Frank has gotten older, but hasn't grown. The movie then goes on for another half hour trying to make us feel sorry for him, but it doesn't really work. The problem is we're on the side of a person who barely has a line in the movie, Sheeran's daughter Peggy (Paquin as an adult, Gallina as a teenager). He laments the fact that she knows he's a monster, but that's the extent of it. One of his other daughters reads him the riot act and we shrug our shoulders and nod in agreement. We never get to the point where we want anything good for him. We're only interested in whether or not the story he's telling us is true because of the legends we've heard about Hoffa's possible whereabouts. If you're not familiar with Hoffa coming in, it all may fall even flatter.

Even with its shortcomings, The Irishman is still a captivating watch. We can't tear our eyes from the screen. Watching men who run the world from the shadows is inherently intriguing. In Scorsese's hands, it's downright hypnotic. Much of the movie involves these guys plotting their next move. It's high stakes chess between masters played over many dinners, bottles of wine, and family gatherings. The action of the murders we often get to see is usually not as exciting as the planning of them. However, when we get them, the non-stylized violence makes it more brutal, gives us jolt at the realization of a life ended. Seeing some action hero mow down dozens of faceless bad guys with blood sprayed everywhere is good fun. Seeing some guy who looks like he might have been standing on line behind you at Walmart walk up to someone on the street and blast them in the face and run away is much more disconcerting, even if we don't like the person being killed. This movie has a lot of those moments.

From a technical standpoint, the film shines in that Scorsese way. We get the signature tracking shots, the immaculate framing, and the telling reaction shots unsullied by dialogue. The thing that ensures the movie isn't a complete joke, however, is the de-aging fx that Marvel has made all the rage. Our three main stars are all at least 76 years of age and play their characters over a stretch of 40 or so years. They're convincing enough through it all. It's fine. Occasionally, De Niro is betrayed by his body because during some of the physical scenes, a septuagenarian just doesn't move like a man in his thirties or forties, try as he might. Still, this is a small complaint since it's far better than what Ang Lee gave us in Gemini Man. The storytelling gets us through the film even if the story it's telling isn't quite up to snuff. It's also a deliberately paced film. With 200-plus minutes to kill, there's no rush. This might be a problem for some viewers because it doesn't grab us the same way so many of Scorsese's classics have done over the years. The Irishman is by no means a bad movie, just not one that sits among the pantheon of the director's greats.

11 comments:

  1. You make a really good point about how this movie doesn't make you feel something for Frank like Scorcese's other films do. (Even Raging Bull, which I didn't like, I came away hating De Niro like I should) I didn't consider that at the time, but that's absolutely spot on. I'm lukewarm on this film. It's well made, but I have no interest in seeing it again any time soon.

    I did finally watch Goodfellas for the first time and it was awesome at least.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah, I'm lukewarm on it, too. I mean, I like it, but I'm soooo far from loving it. Glad you got to see Goodfellas, though. That is one of my all-time faves.

      Delete
  2. I have this film on my laptop but I've never found the time or the urge to watch it at the moment as I really wanted to see it in a big screen but with the way things are. That's not going to happen.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nah, no big screen for this one. You're just gonna have to carve out a chunk of day and get to it, lol.

      Delete
  3. You bring up some genuine points here that I hadn't considered. I think I was rapt with seeing Pesci back on the screen and seeing De Niro and Pacino really acting together that may have blinded me to some of the film's real faults. You're absolutely correct in how the film treats Frank, though. Frank doesn't ever really change in this film in any real sense--he might gain power or influence, but he's just more of the same person. That does work against the story.

    Pesci is brilliant, though. And for all the film's length, I was never bored by it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I understand being taken by this cast. It's an amazing group. But yeah, Frank just moseys along being Frank. I was never bored by it, just a bit dissatisfied.

      Delete
  4. I think the fact that Frank remains a blank slate and doesn't change is exactly the point of the film. He's a sociopath. He lacks empathy. We don't feel because he doesn't feel. Scorsese's camera remains disengaged, passive, mimicking the coldness of the character. We're used to Scorsese's gangsters being charismatic, and this movie does have plenty of charisma from other corners, but DeNiro isn't one of them, and that's point. He's just a soldier.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You definitely have a point. Unfortunately, what happens for me is that the movie leaves me cold, as well. My entire reaction to it is, "Maybe it did happen that way," and them I'm done with it. Nothing sticks with me. With Frank as the centerpiece, it's just a bunch of bad people killing each other.

      Delete
  5. Dammit, Dell! I can barely knock out a two-hour movie in one sitting, so I came here hoping you'd convince me to finally give this one a shot, but it looks like I'm going to put it off further. I love all of these actors, am more than compelled by the premise, but I haven't heard anything resembling YOU GOTTA SEE THIS, you know?

    But, maybe. Maybe I can swing it.

    All that said, this was an excellent post.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah, sorry, it doesn't say YOU GOTTA SEE THIS to me, at least. However, it IS Scorsese, De Niro, Pacino, Pesci, Keitel, and a bunch of others in the same movie. That's what got me to watch it.

      Delete
  6. Hey there Dell! Honestly, I haven't mustered up enough interest in seeing this yet. Yes I know it's done by a celebrated filmmaker starring some of the best actors, but somehow I'm just not keen on watching it. Glad you found it captivating though, maybe one day I'll give it a try.

    ReplyDelete