The Irishman (2019, R)

Okay, so this is the first Oscar film I saw after the nominations came out. In its defense, I watched it on a day that wasn’t the best time to commit to a film like that (I knew it was super long, but I hadn’t realized it was that long,) but on the whole, it didn’t grab me. It didn’t hold my attention. I can recognize and appreciate the good work on display, but for me, I didn’t come away wowed by it.

The story of Frank Sheeran, a working-class salt-of-the-earth guy who rises to prominence as a hit man for the Bufalino crime family. Frank rubs elbows with powerful mobsters, taking out their enemies with adept nonchalance, and he also fosters a complicated relationship with union superstar Jimmy Hoffa.

Another point in the film’s defense: I’ll admit that I’m not really a Martin Scorsese person. I’ve enjoyed the films of his that I’ve seen but haven’t been wild for them, and I haven’t seen any of his most famous/celebrated works (most of my Scorsese experience extends to those that have come out since I was of an age to be watching them, roughly The Aviator and beyond.) This means I didn’t come into the film with a lot of good will and excitement pre-loaded. He’s an excellent, well-respected director who helmed a film starring a number of excellent, well-respected actors, but I didn’t cue up the film shouting, “Scorsese directs De Niro, Pacino, and Pesci in a 3-and-a-half-hour mobster extravaganza!!! It’s so on!!!” I’ve seen discussion online raving about this movie, and I don’t doubt the veracity of anyone else’s opinion.

But for me, it was just all right. Plenty of good work on display from all the heavy hitters involved (Al Pacino as Jimmy Hoffa was probably my favorite,) but it didn’t make me sit up and really take notice. Honestly, I thought the story dragged. It seems to spend a lot of its time on incidents, meandering away from a driving through line for long stretches of time. The ending in particular takes its sweet time. After the climactic event of the film, I noted that there was still half an hour of movie left (and, as if to rub that fact in, we immediately cut to a long scene set in slow motion.) And yes, it needs to be said: this is longer than the theatrical cut of The Return of the King. This is a long-ass movie, and it requires a devotion to the genre or the director or the actors that I wasn’t prepared to muster.

Much has been made of the aging and deaging CGI to allow Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, and Al Pacino to play the same characters over the span of decades. I’d say mostly, it looks okay. There’s a very slight unanny-valley-ness to it that distracts you, especially at the youngest points for the various characters, but overall, it’s respectable enough. However, the fact that these actors are all men in their late 70s and move like men in their late 70s can’t be hidden by the CGI. It’s weird to see, say, De Niro playing Frank at maybe 40-ish (I find it hard to tell how old anyone is supposed to be at any time in this movie) but clearly walking like a man who’s nearly twice that age. Put that together with the just-shy-of-realistic-looking CGI, and it definitely breaks any illusion that these characters are as the film purports them to be (and having Joe Pesci’s Russell Bufalino repeatedly call Frank “kid” isn’t enough to wallpaper over that.)

Where Oscars are concerned, this movie scored a lot of nominations. Best Picture, Director, Supporting Actor nods for Pesci and Pacino, Cinematography, a couple of design nominations (Costumes and Production Design,) Editing, and Visual Effects, for a total of 10.

Warnings

Violence, language, drinking/smoking, and thematic elements.