User reviews

I don't know where to start on this one other than thanking Netflix for being the only distributor to fund this movie so we could see Big screen legends take their last big swing. The set and screen is smaller than I liked it to be, it being released on a streaming site but it's better than never seeing it.

It's not a flawless movie and I wouldn't necessarily call it a masterpiece or something new and innovative. But for an old genre gangsta flick it's easily one of the best ones out there.

The plot is a lot like Godfather 2 from De Niros perspective but that's all there is. It is more grounded and far too subtle compared to Goodfellas. And that's a good thing considering the age of the lead actors in the movie. But that doesn't mean its dull, gray and dreary because it isn't. It is surprisingly humorous, has some very serious scenes and doesn't shy away from giving us a blast of nostalgia every now and then.

The cinematography is quite different from the usual modern movies we are accustomed to. It doesn't have an overabundance of Wes Anderson symmetric shots or Roger Deakins like Wide angle shots. The film was shot in a very old timey way with the camera pans and edits. The editing in the movie is great and the score is fitting. Technical aspects considered it isn't innovative or something jawdropping, but that was never supposed to be the main focus of the movie.

The main focus for me was absolutely the acting. And why wouldn't it be with a cast like this? Al Pacino and Robert De Niro for the 1st time on screen together since Heat. Joe Pesci and De Niro since Goodfellas. Joe Pesci coming out of retirement and Martin Scorsese directing all these legends on screen together! If this doesn't get you excited for this film then I'm afraid nothing will.

Speaking of acting my god do they act! Robert De Niro gives his best performance in his older age with this. Joaquin Phoenix was a top contender for best Actor Oscar and I agreed with that but after watching THE IRISHMAN everything changed. Robert De Niro basically steals his Oscar like a gangsta and gives the best performance of the year so far. Old Bobby here still giving top notch actors a run for their money and the guy is 76 years old!

When was the last time you saw Al Pacino give a really good performance? Well that's exactly what he does here and it feels so good to see him find his glory days. He is his usual shouty self but shines better when he tones it down and let expressions speak.

And boy have I missed Joe Pesci over the years and don't worry he's still intense as usual. And that's weird considering he is extremely toned down in this movie. If you're looking for a violent Joe Pesci like he was in Goodfellas you'll be disappointed. But if you're looking for an intimidating Pesci with a huge presence then you're in the right place.

Harvey Keitel is in the movie for a very short time but he did his job fantastically. Ray Romano was a surprising standout and I can't believe how he kept up on the same plane as some of these industry legends. He doesn't really have a bigger role and basically gets lost as the film progresses but he made the most of his screentime.

The film is 3hours and 30 minutes long but it never felt that long honestly. The first 2 hours went by a breeze but the 3rd hour was unapologetically slow. It felt a bit dragged on during the final hour and felt it was skipping ahead at the same time. it wasn't boring in any way but felt it could've been handled better. The CGI de-aging is so good that after a while you get confused how old the lead actors actually are. This is the best de-aging tech I've ever seen honestly.

Despite it being slow in the latter end it still is a fantastic film. It doesn't set out to do something different, it doesn't try to set it aside from the herd. Scorsese did what he does best and made the movie he wanted to make. Its more of a last big hurrah for these living legends than something out to be a flawless masterpiece. It will most likely be the last of its kind and also the last collaboration of Scorsese with these acting legends. Considering the time we are in this might as well be the last Scorsese film, it most definitely is the last Joe Pesci appearance in a movie and the last good mobster hit with genre legends like Al Pacino and De Niro. So enjoy it while you can and savor it. Remember this movie 10 years from now and rejoice that you were alive to witness something truly fantastic. THE IRISHMAN is a farewell for most of these legends and a loveletter to the genre. It's the last of its kind and it went out in true mobster style.

Amazing acting, great story lines and some twists. Loved how the story was told through the eyes of De Niro's character as he was at the end of his life.

For anyone that likes gangster movies, it is worth a watch - high quality actors from across the great gangster films. The only negative is that it lasts 3.5 hours. This would put me off watching it again soon, but definitely worth seeing for the first time.

Kept me glued throughout - defo give it a watch. You won't be disappointed.

You have to be absolutely out of your mind to legitimately think that this is Scorcese at his best and ignore all the flaws in this movie. Yes, I get it, he made a lot of great movies in his time, but this isn't one of them.

A scene early on with Deniro beating someone up sums up the movie pretty well. The random no-name actor getting beat up is the only one exhibiting any emotion, as Deniro's character and his daughter sleepwalk their way through the scene like most of the cast does through most other scenes. It can be a bit hard to tell though since the camera zooms out so far that you can hardly see their faces, probably in an effort to avoid using the piss poor de-aging effects during an "action" scene, but it doesn't much matter because it's still close enough that we can see Deniro noticeably physically struggling to get through the scene. It looks awful and its depressing to see Deniro like this and to realize that Scorcese thought this scene was ok like this (why would they not have just used a stand-in here?), and this is pretty much how the movie feels in general.

This is a very noticeably weak effort from Scorcese. Most of the characters are wooden and just seem bored to be there. Pesci and Deniro are shockingly lifeless here. Pacino seems to be the only one giving any effort, but even his performance only comes off like a pale imitation of his old self.

Again, the de-aging effects are very weak and it's pretty jarring to see the flashback version of Deniro's character be referred to as if he's a young man (Pesci even calls him KID), but still looks like he's about 50.

There are a ton of side characters introduced, most of which disappear immediately after their introductions and serve no real purpose. Likewise there are many vestigial scenes that serve no purpose to advance either plot or character.

The plot is of course your typical gangster fare that we've seen from Scorcese so many times already. Guy gets into a life of crime, rises in the ranks, gets rich and lives it up, and then everything comes crashing down because he and everyone else he knows are absolutely terrible people, blah blah blah, we've seen it all before, but you know, you take something more recent of his like The Wolf of Wall Street and even though it uses that same old formula it still manages to be interesting because the characters have such personality and style and they keep your eyes glued to the conflict even though you already know exactly where it's going.

Here? Not so much. The Irishman is an absolutely unremarkable mobster story with completely forgettable characters that don't seem at all interested in their roles and some production values and cinematography that the so-called king of cinema should be embarrassed to be associated with, and let me tell you, you people defending this weak excuse for a film aren't doing Scorcese or "cinema" any favors by blindly swallowing this crap and acting like it's the greatest thing you've ever seen. If you're so willing to suck down any product, no matter how bad, just because it has a big time famous name attached to it than you're really no better than the popcorn action movies and fans that you're so quick to condemn.

As someone who's seen every Scorcese film before this, this is a 5/10 AT BEST and I will never pretend otherwise just because he did a lot of great films in the past.

Classic Scorsese . De Niro is the best he's been for years . Pacino is really magnetic and charming . But for me, Joe Pesci is the standout. Quietly deadly, magnetic , loyal, complicated, its him that will get the Oscar . Saw it at the cinema ( sorry Netflix but I am not watching Scorsese at home ) and it was superb. Oh Anna Paquin is used quite cleverly as well. Good actress . Decent performance Go and see it at the cinema . You will remember the masters returning for one last ride

The Irishman is a companion piece to Martin Scorsese's other gangster films, Goodfellas and Casino.

It is also a teaming up of his old pals for one last ride. Robert De Niro has not appeared in a Scorsese film since Casino. Neither has Joe Pesci who basically retired from the movies in 1998. Harvey Keitel last worked with Scorsese in The Last Temptation of Christ. Al Pacino is the new boy, his first time working with Scorsese.

The Irishman is less violent than Goodfellas and Casino. It still packs a punch although Scorsese has been more careful not to make these gangsters look as glamorous as in his previous films.

Spanning 40 years, Frank Sheeran (De Niro) recalls his story. A World War 2 veteran who fought in Italy, a truck driver who delivered meat who went on to become a man who painted houses (a hitman.) Sheeran got involved with Russell Bufalino (Pesci) a Pennsylvania gangster who kept a low profile. It brings him into contact with Jimmy Hoffa (Pacino) the leader of the powerful Teamster union who loaned money from its pension fund to organized crime. Sheeran went on to become close with Hoffa and a union organiser.

Scorsese has called The Irishman a chamber piece. It is mainly about its three main characters and only De Niro, Pesci and Pacino go through the digital de-aging process. They are made to look in their late 30s/40s for the early part of the film.

The film has the best cinema performances that De Niro and Pacino have given in years, mainly because the quality of some scripts they have been offered have been far from the best. Pacino plays Hoffa differently from Jack Nicholson in the movie Hoffa. Pacino's interpretation is of a man who likes ice cream sundaes, hates tardiness and unwilling to see reason because he thought the Teamsters owed him the leadership as a right. Pesci in contrast with his volatile Goodfellas character is a more thoughtful wiseguy here.

The film clocks in at three and half hours. It is too long and one hour could had easily been excised from it. The de-aging has been done sympathetically. It works mainly because we are never told how old they were when we see them at their younger age. However, you can make an actor in his 70s look thirty years younger, you cannot digitally make them move like younger men. You can spot De Niro gingerly climbing some rocks in one scene.

The treatment of females in this movie is superficial. Sheeran's and Bufalino's wives are just there to chain smoke. Only Sheeran's daughter Peggy shows unhappiness as to her father's chosen profession. Even then the old Peggy is wasted. At one point I did wonder why the film had a de-aged Holly Hunter playing Peggy. Only to realise she was played by Anna Paquin, who won an Oscar for playing Hunter's daughter in The Piano.

Despite the reservations, Scorsese has crafted a wonderful film, getting together the actors he relied on from his own early days as a director. There is an air of elegiac nostalgia to a style of cinema that might be passing away which Scorsese reflected on with his comments about Marvel superhero films. Ironic that The Irishman only got a limited cinema release as its main platform is Netflix.

Some might hate it but here is a little bit of truth about the Irishman, against the 8s and the 9s and the 10s: It is a "Too long didn't read" kind of movie. What is the reason of this enormous more-than-three-hours runtime? Probably to enjoy as much as possible Pesci, Pacino and De Niro working together. But folks, this time has come and gone... Goodfellas, Casino etc. and anything Scorcese did is amazing. But getting mob-type genre back in play in 2020 needs a bit of a twist and taste for the different audiences. 3' 24" is outrageously long and slow even for the fanatics. I watched it on Netflix and it took 2 days to go through the movie. Very slow character development, which is absolutely not necessary, as we as audiences are already trained in this genre. If you don't like this mob-type genre and these actors, there is almost no chance you would watch this movie or you 'd drop it after half an hour. Only plus is the good acting of course and the great directing but...if you are new to this genre, start from the classics! 6/10

Other reviewers at the top, when sorted by Helpfulness, have already covered much of what makes this film so exceptionally good. As such, and knowing that I have a tendency to sometimes exceed the number of allowed characters, I'd like to add just a couple of small things.

First, the sets and costuming were near perfection. Every SINGLE piece of clothing which the characters wore, down to cuff-links, handbags, hair pins and shoes were of the era. That kind of meticulous detail can only bode well for a film. If the creators care enough about the small details, imagine what they do with the big ones.

Secondly, in many films now, where there is a well-known and varied cast, you find that the screen time each devotes in comparison to the film run time, really leaves a little to be desired. That is not the case here. Almost every second of every scene is filled with one or more of these masterful actors, actually acting. Performing. Pulling you in to the world they are creating. All, without the need of heavy CGI or filler. As Hoffa might say: they get right down to brass tacks - and, pardon the pun, deliver.

DeNiro, Pacino, Pesci, Keitel. Enough said. Leave politics at the door, and enjoy.

Excellent film all around.

First off, let me set this straight that I'm not repeled by long or slow films. However, The Irishman is at the very least 30-40 minutes too long, and the suspense sometimes is killed off by characters dragging the scene too much. The biggest offender would be the second last arc which I'm not gonna spoil.

Secondly, for such a slow film you'd expect the pay off to be worth it, but it isn't. The message of the film is revealed very early on, and it's very obvious where this particular plot line is going to. These 2 factors (slow pace and obvious plotline) make the film feels particularly unrewarding to me.

Third is the lack of the 'wow' factor, which is disappointing for such a godlike cast and crew. There is not a single memorable scene or line that stands out for me, despite the actors all doing a phenomenal job. And no, I don't really mind the CGI, even though it's not the best thing since sliced bread. The music is not memorable either, even though it can be an artistic choice to make the film feels more grounded and unglamorous.

So where does this leave us? Personally I don't think this is a bad film, but it feels disappointing with such a big roster. Don't expect this to be the film to watch with friends over, as it's pretty (unneccessarily) lengthy and the undertone is meant to be a heavy one.

I'm going to steal something I read from a food critic once-this deserves a zero because it's so good it'll ruin everything else for you. And that's what this masterpiece is to cinema. It's truly just that effing special. It reminded me just how much I miss Pesci. Never in my life has time flown by as quickly as it did watching this. A true joy and a privilege to witness. Well done sirs. Well done.

I was worried about the length of the film before i attended the screening, but i can honestly say, i was gripped all the way through, De Niro back to his best, Pesci was fantastic, Pacino was electric, Keitel was menacing & Stephen Graham held his own amongst this legendary cast.

A return to this world that Scorsese has mastered with some of his best films & this film sits right up there right next to them.

Get comfy & enjoy the great story telling ability of these masters at work.

Martin Scorsese grew up making gangster movies, for over 40 years he became the mainstay of modern gangster movies, along with Coppola marked a before and after in the genre, Scorsese immortalized gangster movies with Mean Streets, Goodfellas and Casino, films full of moral dilemmas, corrupt and proud characters and the typical final act of the film of the descent into misery. The Irishman brings all these elements together in a more existentialist and reflective way, despite being a movie about the mafia it feels more two-dimensional than most crime movies, especially because it is a very personal story told by Scorsese himself, unlike most mafia movies, The Irishman takes time to reflect on the passage of time, repentance, devotion, loyalty, and oblivion, all these doubts drown Scorsese and the main actors of the film who they have reached old age and are reflecting on their own lives.

The Irishman has all the features of the Scorsese cinema, long shots, sharp and precise dialogues and dynamic camera movements, every time there is a shooting Scorsese manages to make it look more stylized than the previous one, we all know that the scenes of the Scorsese movies where the violence overflows are excellent, except for the scene of Frank kicking a man in the wax, De Niro's performance is quite disappointing considering that he is a 78-year-old man playing someone in his thirties. Like any Scorsese film, the story is marked by one betrayal after another, the mafia world is not the best to trust other people, loyalty is ephemeral, except that of Russel and Frank that is maintained until the end, when someone makes mistakes the mafia has no other solution than death, Frank was on the verge of making mistakes on multiple occasions but Russel was always there to rescue him as a sign of his true loyalty.

The Irishman has an unconventional epilogue for the Scorsese films, we are used to seeing a spiral descent by the characters into madness or misery, or in both directions as is the case with Goodfellas. The Irishman for his part presents a reflective, emotional, sad and cold epilogue, Frank is alone in an old age telling us his story but continues to remain faithful to his ideals, this is demonstrated when he prefers not to tell the police about Jimmy Hoffa even after that all the mafia he knew is dead, that is his loyalty to his religion, the mafia.

There are several peculiar scenes in this epilogue filled with a strong emotional charge, the ending leaves a strange feeling of mixed feelings, nostalgia, euphoria or confusion, but above all satisfied when seeing a film that refreshes the current cinema as only Scorsese could have done.

The Irishman is another outstanding Scorsese film. De Niro gives one of his best performances in years. His narration is spot on and he makes us genuinely feel for Frank Sheeran. I believe his first Oscar nomination for years is inbound. Pesci is also great in a somewhat reserved role, but it's Al Pacino that really shines in this film. He gives his typical loudmouth performance and should be considered the favourite for best supporting actor, in my book. The film has a good pace to it. The nearly three and a half hour runtime flies by... for the most part. Midway through the second act, things can get a little slow but by no means is it boring. Perhaps it's the kind of film you watch on Netflix rather see it in cinema. The character development overall is excellent. We get a good grasp of every character by the end of the film due to the run time. However, we don't hear a huge chunk of information regarding Frank's Irish background. It is merely mentioned with one or two references. I personally had no issue with the de-aging. I think it's done really well. At no point was I distracted or thought it looked unrealistic. The ending and/or final act as a whole is conclusive. You leave the cinema with a smile on your face. I see a best picture nomination incoming for The Irishman. You should check it out when it comes to Netflix November 27. 9/10

Watching the wax museum version of De Niro for more than three hours wasn't the blast I hoped for. The CGI is not there yet. Dead eyes. Very distracting.

Al Pacino pretty much tries to play Al Pacino, De Niro his usual bitter self, but nice to see wax-Pesci, who was the most believable character. He completely outshines wax-De Niro here.

Oh, and by the way, Scorsese: there were no twin towers in the late 60's.

I can rewatch 'Goodfellas' and 'Casino' over and over again. I will not be returning to 'The Irishman'

Firstly, For example, The gangs of New york, Shutter Island, The wolf of wall street are some great Scorsese movies.

But now I am really struggling to Fathom how could anyone enjoy this debacle.

Secondly, I would like to clear some misconceptions.

Length is not the problem, It's what you offer in that duration.

You can watch a whole 10 episode season of one one show in one day and that would take around 10 hours, but only if the the subject matter is good, stimulating, exhilarating and entertaining enough, But that disaster of a movie fails miserably on all of that as it was dull and poor on every aspect regardless of how long it is. It would still be as dull and terrible even if it was a one hour movie.

It's not about the story, the story would make a great movie if it was executed differently.

The pace, the writing, the dialogues, the script the screenplay the character buildup, introduction and the acting. Everything was monotonous and painful to watch and follow.

There was literally nothing in that movie that would make anyone keen on watching more than one hour of that movie. I seriously want it to give up after one hour as I decided that was enough terrible waste of time and energy. It felt like 4 hours of deadly boredom already.

That movie is (by far) the worst Movie Scorsese has made.

Seen this afternoon at the NYFF.

This film will doubtless go down as "The Godfather" of its generation, with Pacino and De Niro both on hand to assure continuity. Neither of them has done anything remotely as brilliant as this in decades, and the great revelation of the film, Joe Pesci, hasn't done anything at all. It has taken Scorsese's alchemy, back at its peak, to bring the three of them together in ways that surpass the sum of their considerable parts.

Although (or because?) much of the film concerns the bleakness of old age, each of them, Scorsese included, is here restored to his astonishing peak capacity: the film's dirty little secret is that much of its substance concerns the process of human subsidence and movement toward the grave (some -- many -- more expeditiously than others, of course, with titles accompanying the first appearance of so many of the minor characters to tell us , laconically, in which appalling way this was accomplished), its principals seem to have discovered the fountain that restores, if not their youth, at least their youthful talents and energy, albeit with a world-weariness that we should all heed.

Don't worry about the film's amazing length -- it goes by at warp speed, and if if not for slowing down of its own accord (and logic) in its final half hour, you may feel deprived by how swiftly it is dispatched.

The professional reviews. out today, make much of the digital "de-aging" that allows the principals to be portrayed in early and late middle age, as well as closer to their natural ages. I confess that I don't see a problem with this, nor, I suspect, will most viewers. Under Maestro Scorsese's baton, all of them are fully convincing at each of these phases of life.

Interestingly, it is De Niro (who played the young Vito Corleone) to whom the elegiac moments, poignantly and all-too-realistically portrayed, are given, whereas it is Pacino, to whom those unforgettable solo moments as the middle-aged Don were given, whose role here ends as it began -- in the total intoxication and lack of self-awareness of the powerful and unscrupulous. Pesci's self-awareness and watchful, controlling understanding of the realities of power, obviates the need for introspection -- he never wavers in his understanding of where the chess pieces stand on the board, and how they must, inevitably, be moved, and only fleetingly does he seem to perceive the cost of all that. Far more than his past scenery-chomping roles for Scorsese and others, Pesci's character here is, in this sense, the most terrifying figure in the film.

The political messages are oblique (history unfolds largely in the background, on TV sets), but the core Scorsese message about the utter corruption of American life and the impossibility of combating this -- if only because the alleged watchdogs, up to and including Presidents, are , in turn, so easily corrupted -- comes through loud and clear. It's hardly an original message, but Scorsese (like Coppola before him) dissects these dynamics with exquisite precision. The message for our current politics couldn't be clearer, or scarier.

Mention must be made of the flawless ensemble cast which backs up these principals, including the amazing women, who play such important, but background roles. (In mob films, as in Catfish Row in the great revival of "Porgy and Bess" now at the Metropolitan Opera, "a woman is a sometime thing." )

I feel privileged to have been present at one of the first public screenings of a film that will certainly join the pantheon. But I must get back to see it again and again, such is the richness contained in almost every frame and sequence.

Peoples are losing their minds over the sainted director, forgetting the movie. Sure, it's well made, fascinating history. But it's second nature for De Niro, and Pacino overreaches at times. The third reel is repetitive over the decline of the De Niro character. Would be a better movie at 2hr 30. In fact, I thought it had ended about then, but it meandered on another hour.

The Irishman is one of the best stories put to film in years. Al Pacino looked in his prime. De Niro Pesci and everyone else is as good as youd expect. The cgi deaging is revolutionary. Truly seamless. The 3.5 hour runtime is heavily felt, but totally worth it

To that, I say bravo to Marty Scorsese

This film is super long. Too long to sit in the cinema for as fantastic as it looks. I ran out of snacks, I was so gripped I didn't go to the toilet which meant my bladder was bursting only adding to the tension.

This is pretty much the Avengers of the gangster movies where all of your favourite people are in one film written by the best writer and directed by the best director. Only Walken and Woods are missing.

Making de niro young kind of works and isn't as distracting as I thought and Pacino is fantastic. If you expect Pesci to be the nutjob he was in the other Scorsese movies then think again and this is no bad thing. Pesci is one of the best actors alive with a fantastic range and this movie proves it.

The Irishman is lovely to look at but for god sakes take a leak before you go or wait for its Netflix debut where you can watch it with whiskey and pause it for comfort breaks.

Very long and boring, almost nothing happens in the whole movie. I thought there would be many interesting moments of Italian mafia showdowns, in the style of old movies. But this is not the case. Not worth your attention.

I don't like De niro's political rants but I will not allow them to influence my respect of great acting, directing and storyline. This had all those in spades and didn't need fast cuts and fast action. You enter their world and the cold reality of a gangsters less glamorous side bares it soul and it's a sad but poignant reality. Excellent nuanced acting make this a true masterpiece of cinema. Do not miss this film!!!