NFT: The Irishman [2019] by Martin Scorsese

The Irishman [2019] by Martin Scorsese

Growing up in New York in the 70's and 80's, the disappearance of labor union icon Jimmy Hoffa was a pretty big deal. The story was in the ether and people wondered if he was alive or dead, tied up somewhere or entombed in a concrete block in Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The Irishman takes on this mythical American mob story and entwines it with all of US history from the mid-50s to the 90s. It is a juicy recipe for a sweeping epic by the hand of Scorsese.

Well, I feel this film is a bit of a mixed bag. The highs of the film are pretty damn good. There is a great lead performance by De Niro and fine to interesting turns by Pesci, Pacino, Cannavale, etc. Pacino plays Hoffa like a whacked out mob boss. I'm not always convinced but it is just this side of typical Al hysteria and seems to work well enough. The film is long but the epic scope is compelling as we watch De Niro's Sheeran commit to the life of a cold hearted killer. I was with the film the whole way for the most part and I loved seeing linkages from Kennedy to Bay of Pigs to Watergate to corrupt mob and union practices, connecting titanic figures in recent American history. But this film, though good and absorbing just doesn't reach the heights of peak Scorsese - films like Goodfellas, Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, even The Wolf of Wall Street.

But the elephant in the room in my opinion is the makeup. De Niro is aged in many stages throughout the film. For large chunks De Niro is de-aged and I think the effect is flawed and almost ruins the movie. I am sure they decided on this approach to save money. I was at a screening at the DGA Theater in NY and De Niro was there and discussed the makeup. He said they could shoot any scene at any time and not waste time on practical makeup. Instead they applied tiny dots to his face so the de-aging or aging makeup fx could be done in post. It looks like an effect who's time has not come yet and having it applied to the visuals of a classic filmmaker's (likely final) epic seems short sighted and chintzy. If I am being honest, this choice nearly fucks up the entire look of the movie.

Oh well, the effect is there and mars an otherwise fine, slow-burning, if long, absorbing mob drama. It is a quality Scorsese effort with lots of great acting and fun spurts of action/violence. De Niro brings home the goods giving insight into the life of a man who finds himself near the center of the political labor movement while moonlighting as a sociopathic mobster. This continues to shape up as a big year for mainstream movies. The Irishman is a contender, but it ain't no Joker.