Certificate: 15
Running time: 209 minutes
Starring: Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, Al Pacino, Harvey Keitel, Anna Paquin.
Directed by: Martin Scorsese
The story: Frank Sheeran recalls his life working as a truck driver who became involved in organised crime and union politics.
The verdict: Martin Scorsese’s latest film had a very limited theatrical release, before being dropped on Netflix. It’s always a little bit disappointing when you’re not able to see a film at the cinema (and unfortunately there were no cinemas nearby that were showing The Irishman). However, due to the impressive three and a half hours running time, watching The Irishman on Netflix wasn’t too much of a hardship. At least you can pause it for bathroom breaks!
The Irishman arrived on Netflix with high expectations from audiences. Reviews for the film have seen it lavished with praise, with it being called one of Scorsese’s best and being tipped for multiple Oscar nominations. We will have to wait for awards season to see how well the film does, but it’s certainly looking like The Irishman will be a front runner. So does The Irishman deserve all of its praise? Or is it one of the most overrated films of the year?
Firstly, I think your overall enjoyment of The Irishman will be increased or decreased according to how much of a fan you are of Scorsese. That may sound like a pretty obvious thing to say, but The Irishman feels like quintessential Scorsese and fans of his work will feel right at home with this film. Fans will also enjoy the transition Scorsese has made to mature filmmaker, The Irishman ruminates on life, death and everything in between.
Technically, you would be hard pushed to find fault with The Irishman. The cinematography and visuals are great - the film spans several decades and the transition between them is visually seamless. A big point of interest surrounding The Irishman is how the actors have been digitally de-aged. Regardless of whether you agree with process of de-aging, there have been mentions in other reviews that people have found it too jarring and too obvious. Though of course it’s noticeable, personally I didn’t find it detracted from the film.
The performances in The Irishman are certainly one of its selling points. Yes, we’ve seen these actors in similar roles previously, but each actor brings their own nuances to their performance. Robert De Niro as Frank Sheeran is arguably his best role for years and Joe Pesci and Al Pacino steal the show in their roles as Russell Bufalino and Jimmy Hoffa respectively.
The Irishman may be a very long film, but it’s always an interesting and watchable film. As you can expect, there are certain sequences that are better than other ones. But the running time doesn’t drag. What I found surprising, and what I wasn’t expecting at all, was how many funny moments there were. This provided moments of comic relief, because as you can expect, there is a lot of violence in this film. Though, on a quick side note, the violence is never over the top or gratuitous.
The Irishman, whilst fantastic in many aspects, isn’t flawless however. I found that there were a couple of things that niggled at me and thus affected my overall thoughts on it. The first thing was that, in spite of the long running time, I felt that the exploration of some of the characters and what made them tick was only ever surface level. Sheeran in particular is never presented as anything other than one dimensional - he appears neither complex nor with any conscience. As he is our main character and it is his life we are following, it feels a shame not to get to see more of his inner workings.
My other issue, and main issue, with The Irishman was the utter lack of female involvement in the film. If you put together the lines spoken by female characters throughout this film, then I’m sure it would struggle to top twenty. I guess you can make an argument that the world that the characters inhabit is an inherently male dominated world. However, there are still the wives and daughters of these criminals. And in The Irishman, the women are given nothing to do or say. Anna Paquin, who had the potential to contribute a lot in her character, has only six lines and is forced to express everything her character feels through expressions. It would probably spoil it slightly to explain who she is, but she is set up as a potentially incredibly important and interesting character, yet this is all squandered. I have to believe that Scorsese did this intentionally as a creative choice, yet I can’t understand why.
Overall, I did find The Irishman to be a really good film that I throughly enjoyed and would watch again. I think it does deserve recognition and is one of Scorsese’s best. However, the lack of character development and lack of female characters let it down for me. And though it was always engaging, it wasn’t a film that you couldn’t tear your eyes away from.
The rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Irishman arrived on Netflix with high expectations from audiences. Reviews for the film have seen it lavished with praise, with it being called one of Scorsese’s best and being tipped for multiple Oscar nominations. We will have to wait for awards season to see how well the film does, but it’s certainly looking like The Irishman will be a front runner. So does The Irishman deserve all of its praise? Or is it one of the most overrated films of the year?
Firstly, I think your overall enjoyment of The Irishman will be increased or decreased according to how much of a fan you are of Scorsese. That may sound like a pretty obvious thing to say, but The Irishman feels like quintessential Scorsese and fans of his work will feel right at home with this film. Fans will also enjoy the transition Scorsese has made to mature filmmaker, The Irishman ruminates on life, death and everything in between.
Technically, you would be hard pushed to find fault with The Irishman. The cinematography and visuals are great - the film spans several decades and the transition between them is visually seamless. A big point of interest surrounding The Irishman is how the actors have been digitally de-aged. Regardless of whether you agree with process of de-aging, there have been mentions in other reviews that people have found it too jarring and too obvious. Though of course it’s noticeable, personally I didn’t find it detracted from the film.
The performances in The Irishman are certainly one of its selling points. Yes, we’ve seen these actors in similar roles previously, but each actor brings their own nuances to their performance. Robert De Niro as Frank Sheeran is arguably his best role for years and Joe Pesci and Al Pacino steal the show in their roles as Russell Bufalino and Jimmy Hoffa respectively.
The Irishman may be a very long film, but it’s always an interesting and watchable film. As you can expect, there are certain sequences that are better than other ones. But the running time doesn’t drag. What I found surprising, and what I wasn’t expecting at all, was how many funny moments there were. This provided moments of comic relief, because as you can expect, there is a lot of violence in this film. Though, on a quick side note, the violence is never over the top or gratuitous.
The Irishman, whilst fantastic in many aspects, isn’t flawless however. I found that there were a couple of things that niggled at me and thus affected my overall thoughts on it. The first thing was that, in spite of the long running time, I felt that the exploration of some of the characters and what made them tick was only ever surface level. Sheeran in particular is never presented as anything other than one dimensional - he appears neither complex nor with any conscience. As he is our main character and it is his life we are following, it feels a shame not to get to see more of his inner workings.
My other issue, and main issue, with The Irishman was the utter lack of female involvement in the film. If you put together the lines spoken by female characters throughout this film, then I’m sure it would struggle to top twenty. I guess you can make an argument that the world that the characters inhabit is an inherently male dominated world. However, there are still the wives and daughters of these criminals. And in The Irishman, the women are given nothing to do or say. Anna Paquin, who had the potential to contribute a lot in her character, has only six lines and is forced to express everything her character feels through expressions. It would probably spoil it slightly to explain who she is, but she is set up as a potentially incredibly important and interesting character, yet this is all squandered. I have to believe that Scorsese did this intentionally as a creative choice, yet I can’t understand why.
Overall, I did find The Irishman to be a really good film that I throughly enjoyed and would watch again. I think it does deserve recognition and is one of Scorsese’s best. However, the lack of character development and lack of female characters let it down for me. And though it was always engaging, it wasn’t a film that you couldn’t tear your eyes away from.
The rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
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