(Just a little background.) I am someone who hasn't watched a ton of Martin Scorsese movies, nor movies with De Niro or Pesci. To the extent of being familiar with the genre of mafia, I've watched The Godfather and many TV shows involving crime syndicates.
On the whole, I liked The Irishman. The way the movie was filmed felt very classic. Nothing too fancy, no frequent cuts to close-up shots, no quick successions/sudden jumps. The shots were clean and well-framed. I'm not sure why, but I liked the lighting of many of the scenes too.
Cinematography aside, the movie was long, because it traced Frank Sheeran's life from how he joined the mob to pretty much the end of his life. The first third (not too sure-time becomes hard to tell once you're watching the movie) dragged. I kept wishing more would happen. The middle with Jimmy Hoffa, played by Al Pacino, was more exciting. Not only is Pacino a fantastic actor with some funny moments, but the dynamic and scenes between him and De Niro was realistic. You really get a feel for the friendship, but also the tension with regards to their loyalties to different sides. Joe Pesci's intimidating yet calm demeanor is a quality I live for in movies and TV shows; not every actor can pull it off, but the ones who can do it beautifully. The casting of Frank Sheeran's daughters wasn't the best; they barely looked anything like the younger versions of themselves, leaving me a bit confused at first on who they were when the second flashback caught up to the first. The last half hour of the movie became slow again too. I suppose the purpose was really to highlight how Sheeran's job impacted his life and led to his lonely ending.
There were too many characters. I started getting confused with all the white males and each person's role and place in the hierarchy. I don't want to spoil the ending, but part of it felt sudden and confusing too.
Nevertheless, I did enjoy it. It is definitely a mafia movie that harkens to an earlier time when movies of this kind were highly popular. The Irishman doesn't really bring anything new, but it's nice to see these legends all in one movie. Hey, if you have 3.5 hours to kill, this isn't a bad choice to go with.
On the whole, I liked The Irishman. The way the movie was filmed felt very classic. Nothing too fancy, no frequent cuts to close-up shots, no quick successions/sudden jumps. The shots were clean and well-framed. I'm not sure why, but I liked the lighting of many of the scenes too.
Cinematography aside, the movie was long, because it traced Frank Sheeran's life from how he joined the mob to pretty much the end of his life. The first third (not too sure-time becomes hard to tell once you're watching the movie) dragged. I kept wishing more would happen. The middle with Jimmy Hoffa, played by Al Pacino, was more exciting. Not only is Pacino a fantastic actor with some funny moments, but the dynamic and scenes between him and De Niro was realistic. You really get a feel for the friendship, but also the tension with regards to their loyalties to different sides. Joe Pesci's intimidating yet calm demeanor is a quality I live for in movies and TV shows; not every actor can pull it off, but the ones who can do it beautifully. The casting of Frank Sheeran's daughters wasn't the best; they barely looked anything like the younger versions of themselves, leaving me a bit confused at first on who they were when the second flashback caught up to the first. The last half hour of the movie became slow again too. I suppose the purpose was really to highlight how Sheeran's job impacted his life and led to his lonely ending.
There were too many characters. I started getting confused with all the white males and each person's role and place in the hierarchy. I don't want to spoil the ending, but part of it felt sudden and confusing too.
Nevertheless, I did enjoy it. It is definitely a mafia movie that harkens to an earlier time when movies of this kind were highly popular. The Irishman doesn't really bring anything new, but it's nice to see these legends all in one movie. Hey, if you have 3.5 hours to kill, this isn't a bad choice to go with.