The Irishman - Review

The Irishman is an epic masterpiece in a tiny little box. In other words, it feels so grand in terms of story, characters and emotion, but it's told in a way that feels small. The cinematography is very tight and most of the action takes place between two characters in a room, a car, a restaurant, a prison, and the story feels very confined. However, this works to our advantage as the film focuses on the important matters in a story such as emotional conflict between characters and less on the surrounding noise which often bogs down current Hollywood movies.

Many people will be discussing that this film is three and a half hours long. Now I will admit that I did not see this film in one sitting, but I still feel like I was fully able to grasp story and allow the characters and emotion to impact me as if I saw it in one go.

While you go through the list of film making aspects and see that Martin Scorsese is still a master at his craft, the real heroes here are Robert De Niro, Al Pacino and Joe Pesci. They are the reason why this film really excels. The best performances I have seen from either of them in a long time. They have this insane ability to draw you into the world of Jimmy Hoffa because all of them simply command the screen. When the tension arrives, when we need to feel sympathy, and even when we need to laugh, their chemistry shines through on screen and you are hooked.

This is a movie that I will probably watch only once, or at least not again for a very long time. However, the one time I got was so powerful, I'm satisfied regardless.