"The Irishman": Movie Review
There is a present defiance to "The Irishman" and its 209 minute, overlong run time. Respectable but ostentatious, this is a colossal, meandering, and periodically brilliant mob film, centered around the famous Jimmy Hoffa (Al Pacino). With the absence of necessary editing and some distracting de-aging technology, this is no doubt, a lower tier Scorsese film (the likes of "Gangs Of New York"), but its ambitions are hard not to admire.As long time Hitman, Frank Sheeran (Robert DeNiro), recollects his personal involvement with Hoffa, an abundance of mob melodrama unravels.
Hoffa's ambiguous participation with the assassination of JFK or the more clear hands on involvement with The Bay of Pigs, grants an historically philosophical context to past American events. However, this fascinating perspective only comes across for a brief period of time.Much is the same with the lights out Joe Pesci, playing Russell Bufalino, whose understated performance is Oscar worthy, but doesn't get enough screen time, while other characters, such as Ray Romano or Bobby Cannavale should've been edited out entirely, due to their lack of identity in the film.
"The Irishman" is an irrationally long, retread of a script by Steven Zaillian ("Schindlers List", "Moneyball"), that lacks a consistently unique perspective. One standout performance, and a few neat twists and turns, can't quite reach the height of classic Scorsese.
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