It’s fair to say that Netflix dominated this years Oscar nominations with a total of 24 nominations, beating the likes of Disney and Sony. Their biggest contender was Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman with ten nominations including Best Picture and Best Director.
Unfortunately for Netflix though, they only walked away win 2 wins, none of which went to the gangster flick, and having seen it I have to say that I understand why.
Spanning several decades and a rather hefty three and a half hour runtime, we see aging hitman Frank ‘The Irishman’ Sheeran (Robert De Niro) as he looks back on his life with the Italian mafia.
From his days as a meat delivery driver, when a chance encounter with the boss of a Pennsylvania crime family, Russell Bufalino (Joe Pesci) sets him on the first rung of the mafia ladder. As Frank makes his way up the chain of command, he is entrusted with bigger responsibilities, including ‘painting houses’ which is mafia speak for being a hitman, and he is eventually introduced to Jimmy Hoffa (Al Pacino), a labour unionist from Detroit.
Frank and Jimmy grow close over the years but as Jimmy’s relationship with the mob sours, Frank finds himself caught in the middle, his allegiances are tested and his choices cause him to lose more than he could have predicted.
The film benefits from an almost melancholic tone and a star studded cast but even the likes of Harvey Keitel, Stephen Graham and Bobby Cannavale supporting the highly esteemed central trio couldn’t save me from being completely and utterly bored.
For me, the acting was (dare I say it) a little over the top, and considering the quite intriguing and biographical subject matter, the overall story was a little stereotypical for my tastes with nothing particularly new or memorable to hold my attention. I actually consider it as something of a massive feat of willpower that I managed to make the substantial runtime without turning it off halfway through.
That being said, I would still recommend checking The Irishman out. Whilst it may not be quite to my liking, I am sure there are many among you who will enjoy this film immensely. Just make sure you stock up on the drinks and the popcorn, its a long way to go.
Love the review. I actually watched the Irishman three times now and think it’s a fantastic film that’s a slow burn modern classic. I can totally see where your coming from though a lot of people I’ve talked to struggled to get through it but it’s worth watching at least once anyway
I agree, I’m glad I watched it but I don’t think I could sit through it again lol. I’m glad you liked my review, thank you for reading.
I’ve seen a lot of people gush about this. It doesn’t sound like a film I would usually watch but, hey, we’re in lockdown right now so maybe it’s one I’ll get through in the next three weeks. Great review!
With it being such a hefty run time, now is the best time to watch it lol. It is definitely a slow burn but I hope you like it more than I did.
Interesting review. I can certainly see with its length that quite a few people may not enjoy the film. I watched it in the cinema and enjoyed its meditative approach with Scorsese’s flair but realise that it will not be for everyone.
It’s a difficult one for me because I can appreciate what has gone into making it, I just didn’t find it enjoyable to watch and, for me, that’s the most important thing.
Thank you for reading.
I’ve watched this film many times, and I always throughly enjoy it each time. I very interesting review of the film, think this will persuade more people in my household to watch this 😊
Wow, I think you deserve a medal. I genuinely struggled to finish it the one time, it just didn’t hold my attention enough.
Thank you for reading and commenting, I hope more people do watch it. I’d live to know what they think.