Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Just viewed Martin Scorsese’s latest opus, The Irishman on Netflix.

Incredibly conflicted.

There is a part of me that doesn’t want to believe that Scorsese teamed up with Deniro, Pacino, Pesci and a host of others in a decades spanning mob story would leave me so unsatisfied. But here I sit 3 and a half hours later, wishing I hadn’t watched it. I think.

The good::

-The sets and costumes were amazing. Loved the attention to detail throughout.
-I really love that era, with the mob arguably at the zenith of its power but so close to its gradual decline and how it was woven into so many aspects of American culture/politics at the time.
-The story itself was interesting and the Jimmy Hoffa disappearance is a unique piece of American folklore. As a kid I knew the dude had disappeared, but I never knew the who/what/why until I was around 25 and read about him in one of my criminal justice classes in depth. Seems every few years some goon will come forward to say they know where the body is, which puts the story back in the spotlight. Usually to sell books.
-I liked when they introduced a character and told us in writing on the screen when they would die. Really drove home how violent it could end up when you ran in these circles.
-Loved all the cameos. Sebastian Maniscalco(a stand up comic) as the mobster Joey Gallo was probably my favorite. Meth Damon was in it too, but not in a very big role, unfortunately. Enjoy that dude after Breaking Bad and his season of Fargo.
-There was some cool imagery. The scene where Deniro dumps a murder gun into a river and when it hits bottom, its amongst an entire arsenal of murder weapons.

The bad:

-It was boring. Aside from a few mob hits, its just a bunch of old dudes talking. Then one of those old dudes going to another old dude to tell him what that other old dude said. Sometimes those old dudes are young dudes(played by old dudes. More on that below) And it cycles on until it culminates into a mob hit.
-Just seemed to take itself too serious. Part of what made Goodfellas so great was that it was funny at times. Sometimes ridiculous, sometimes dark, but still funny. The Godfather 1 and 2 were the only mob movies that could maintain a serious tone without becoming too dull or dour.

The Ugly:

-For me, this movie has completely killed the CGI de-aging phenomena that seems to be gripping Hollywood at the moment. Early in the movie, Joe Pesci (a dude pushing 80 irl) helps out Deniro, (dude also pushing 80 irl) with his truck and calls Deniro “kid”. I think Deniro (The narrator, ie The Irishman) is supposed to be in his early 30s with Pesci older than him, but its clear its two nigh octogenarian men interacting. From their posture, the way they move to the sound of their voice, its clear they are senior citizens pretending to be young men. I couldn’t get over this scene. Kind of felt insulted to be honest. Like if they had hired younger actors that fit the bill to be young versions of Pesci and Deniro I wouldn’t have been smart enough to tell who was who.
-For my tastes, there was alot of overacting.
-Its 3hrs 30 minutes long, a full hour longer than Goodfellas but still seemed to have less content.

I feel like I just watched The Hobbit Trilogy of gangster movies.

I like it a lot and I've already watched two times. The original version in english and the dubbed one in my own language.

Very long, and I usually can't stand long movies unless they are masterpieces, but it didn't feel boring at all. Soundtrack also amazing.

I just can't stand the de-aging effect, looks too fake. No matter how perfect is the special effect I know that De Niro is a 75yo guy, just hire a younger actor if you want to portray the same character in different decades. I think Hollywood is too obsessed in the over realism with aesthetics.

I also hate when actors/actresses become unrecognizable but absolutely identical to the characters they portray in biopics and those movies have nothing to say but to show a perfect recreation of historical character, setting, etc...

According to IMDB I've watched (and rated) 40 movies that have been released in 2019. The Irishman got the highest vote (8/10) along with Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and Avengers Endgame, but I'll probably tone down the Marvel one by a point as I got a bit bored when I watched it the second time.

So far we have watched 1.5 hours of it. We are breaking it up like a mini series.

I have to agree to what has been said alsmot completely.

1. The de-aging is garbo. They MOVE like old men. They interact like old men.
2. So far almost nothing has happened. The Godfather is slow, layering atmosphere and ambience but building tenseness. This is not that.

Not certain if we will watch the rest of it.

As to the reviews, I thought Once Upon a Time in Hollywood was similarly lame with reviews based on cameos and the Director's cachet, not the movie. I didn't watch the Avengers.

yikes, 3.5 hours? They should have just made it a mini series. I wanna watch it, but I'll probably have to break it up over a couple of nights too. My fiance saw the preview and the CGI and she loves mob movies, but has no interest at all. Said something about not wanting to watch a mafia cartoon.

Boy, so much I agree with in this thread.

It wasn't exactly bad, but it surely wasn't great. The de-aging looked terrible. When it didn't work, it was awful, and when it did work, they made Robert Deniro look like a totally different person, at best. The runtime was punishing in length. My biggest complaint, though... it just didn't really go anywhere. I felt there really wasn't any third act to speak of. It felt like an incomplete story arc - no cadillac exploding outside the casino, no montage of bodies being found in meat lockers and in costa rica, no Ray Liotta breaking the 4th wall to complain about spaghetti sauce. It just tapered out and stopped.

I'm focusing on the negative a lot but there were parts I liked quite a bit too. Pesci subverted expectations here for me with his subdued performance (although it wandered into creepy at some very specific moments). The dialogue was often very good, and I mean, it's hard not to find stuff to like in a gangster movie with Pesci, Deniro, and Pacino. Little bits and pieces here and there ("Turned out, it was a bad hit"). The one specific whackout in the oyster place, and the way he explained his choice of weapons. The aforementioned weapon dumping ground.

Of of the big complaints I saw was oddly that Anna Paquin didn't have enough dialogue - I think that's kind of a lame complaint. While she didn't have a lot of speaking lines I felt like her character was still an important focus and I never was wondering what she thought.

The one early "kid" scene where Pesci was fixing the truck truly asked the audience to suspend a lot of disbelief, as noted.


Also @Frazzled, while I liked "Once Upon A Time in Hollywood", it was incredibly indulgent and meandering. You could have easily sliced an hour off that movie. Still, I don't begrudge Tarantino time just hearing his characters interact with each other. Most other directors could not do.

 Ouze wrote:
Pesci subverted expectations here for me with his subdued performance (although it wandered into creepy at some very specific moments).

Yeah, I was expecting a classic Pesci gangster moment when they specifically said "No one smokes in his car" swiftly followed with interchangeable and completely irrelevant wifewoman #2 just said she was going to smoke and Pesci just looks at Deniro and that was that. And his "Want some candy" scenes were indeed weird and never really went anywhere(thankfully).

 Ouze wrote:
Of of the big complaints I saw was oddly that Anna Paquin didn't have enough dialogue - I think that's kind of a lame complaint. While she didn't have a lot of speaking lines I felt like her character was still an important focus and I never was wondering what she thought.

Yeah, quietly judging the characters and finding them wanting, and those characters knowing it, was a nice touch and very minimalist. I thought they were some good scenes where those characters were made to know that they live in a different world.

And yeah, its not going to win any Razzy awards, but I didn't get any "Awards bait" moments from this film. Maybe the set and costume folks could win an award I suppose.

Is it just me or have reviews seem to have broken in the last year? There have been several movies with old famous directors recently with massive accolade that, well, weren't very good?

Eh. A lot of 'old famous directors' seem to feel they can do whatever they want and it'll be perfect. Or just do exactly what they did before.

Neither's really true, and the unlike the old system, dissenting voices aren't shut out in the same way they used to be. There are so many ways for criticism to be heard, unlike old Hollywood, where you either went along what the studios told you to think or got blacklisted.

I personnaly really liked the movie. I thought the acting was excellent and, while a very long movie, it's very easy to watch in one go. The CGI effect weren't great though. I thought it was better then the Godfather, but not as good as Goodfellas.

This is probably super heretical but I also like Goodfellas more than the Godfather. The godfather had some great scenes but I think Goodfellas is a much more consistently great movie.

I might go Casino as better than either, but it's a close one.

I fell asleep, woke up, realized it had 2+ hrs left to go , and turned it off. I can't tell you anything that happened, except for the silly, what's wrong with the truck, kiddo? Scene, which made me wonder if they'd forgotten to do the deaging CGI.

I cried three times during Endgame and shouted for joy a few times and was truly moved by the end.

It makes me a little angry that Scorseze claims the MCU isn't cinema. If this drivel is what "cinema" is supposed to be, he can shove it.

Goodfellas is literally my favourite film, so I was quietly optimistic about this film.

The CGI didn’t really bother me, it didn’t detract from my enjoyment of the film. What bothered me more was the atmosphere and pacing, things just plodded along. Scorsese didn’t seem to even try to keep our eyes glued to the screen, like he did with Goodfellas, Casino and even The Departed.

I can’t help thinking that the slow pace had something to do with the age of the cast. Like others have said even when they were de-aged you could tell they were old men trying to act younger.

Overall I think The Irishman is worth watching if you’re a fan of the genre, just don’t expect too much.