The Irishman sees veteran Scorsese (now, in his 70s) returning to a genre that he had redefined with his early works .. a genre that brought him widespread critical as well as commercial acclaim and made him what he turned out to be.
And.. he returns with a power packed cast that is headlined by Robert de Niro (a frequent collaborator), Al Pacino and Joe Pesci (all three, now in their 70s) and many more stars in juicy cameos.
The Irishman is adapted from a novel - "I Heard You Paint Houses" by Charles Brandt. It is set in the period from 1950s to 1980s and narrates the story of Frank Sheeran - a war veteran, truck driver who gets associated with the underworld crime families, becomes a mob hitman and how his life intersects with trade union leader, Jimmy Hoffa.
The movie which runs for a whopping 209 minutes demands - nay, commands - a patient viewing and rewards the viewers with superlative performances by Al Pacino, Joe Pesci and De Niro at the heart of the narrative filling almost every frame besides excellence in almost every technical aspect of filmmaking - be it the brilliant staging, fluid cinematography, pitch perfect score.
De Niro is a class act in the role of Frank Sheeran - a stoic mobster of few words and fewer emotions. Pesci gives great company in his own version of stolid mentor for Sheeran while good old Al Pacino more than makes up for the lack of words and emotions of the these two in an energetic performace where he explodes in almost every frame.
What we might miss in terms of pace is more than made up by the quality of performances and the craft of a master who shows that even the oldest genre tropes, if handled right, could work like magic.
While the CGI assisted de-aging of the leads is not perfect yet, it is nevertheless unobtrusive and heralds exciting augurings for the future of movies.
The deliberate pacing by Scorsese allows us to soak in more of the unfolding events through the conversations, character arcs and gets us ever more invested in their predicaments. The narrative flows like a clear stream that is seamlessly punctuated by historic events (a la Forrest Gump) and sudden bursts of bloody violence.
Overall, this movie feels like a sagely Scorsese in his Yoda mode meditating on a mobster life.
The Irishman would certainly rank among Scorsese's finest and is certain to enjoy a brilliant run at the awards functions too.
A MASTERPIECE ! (if you can muster some patience to enjoy it.)
RATING - 4/5
PS - The Irishman is streaming on Netflix
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