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“I Heard You Paint Houses”

By Raymond Benson

It was a long time in gestation. The Irishman, also known as I Heard You Paint Houses (the original title and also the name of the book by Charles Brandt upon which it is based), is Martin Scorsese’s career-defining epic of a gangster film that is, more or less, a “best of” anthology of everything that gave the filmmaker’s crime pictures their buzz. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t unique and full of surprises.

At approximately 3-1/2 hours with no intermission, The Irishman is not only the longest picture Scorsese ever made, but also the most expensive. The key attraction to audiences is the combination of its powerhouse stars—Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, and Joe Pesci. Throw in Harvey Keitel, Ray Romano, Bobby Cannavale, Stephen Graham, and even Steven Van Zandt (as crooner Jerry Vale!