The Irishman movie review

MOVIE TITLE: The Irishman NOW ON DVD AND STREAMING

RATING: R

LENGTH: 3 hours, 29 minutes

Movie Review Mom GRADE: A-

IN A NUTSHELL:

If you love Italians and all things mob related, you’ll really enjoy this drama based on the events surrounding Jimmy Hoffa’s death. Directed by award-winning Martin Scorsese, the movie features a masterclass in acting by legendary Robert De Niro and Al Pacino. It’s based on the book I Heard You Paint Houses: Frank “The Irishman” Sheeran & Closing the Case on Jimmy Hoffa. Cinefiles are going to be analyzing this film for decades as classic Scorsese art. It’s no question we’ll see a lot of Oscar nominations out of this.

TIPS FOR PARENTS:

Kids are not going to be interested in this movie, nor should they watch it.
People get shot to death with blood splatters
You see a bunch of cow parts hanging in a truck
A man beats up another man and breaks his hands.
Profanity, crude language, and a bunch of F-bombs
You see topless men in a sauna
Racial slurs

THEMES:

Dishonesty
Pride
Loyalty
Power, control

THINGS I LIKED:

The cast was really great and includes 4 Oscar winners: Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Joe Pesci, and Anna Paquin. Other standouts are Bobby Cannavale, Steven Van Zandt, Harvey Keitel, Ray Romano, Jesse Plemons, and a million more Italians in Hollywood. Rumor has it that Joe Pesci refused this role 50 times because he didn’t want to come out of retirement. I’m so glad he did. He’s outstanding. Ray Liotta should have been in this movie too!
It was fascinating to learn about some of these real-life people and how everything was connected or might have gone down.
I’m always impressed with the technology that makes actors look younger. The special effects were provided by Industrial Light and Magic.
Joe Pesci and DeNiro both speak Italian (no subtitles). They talk about the war.
I thought it was super interesting to read on the screen how various people in the mafia were found dead.
The music was perfect, although they played the same song over and over.

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE:

This movie is REALLY long. Too long. It’s the longest film ever directed by Martin Scorsese and the longest feature film released in over twenty years. It took 106 days to film, also the longest shooting of Scorsese’s career. There was talk that it would be a two-part series, which would have been better.
There is some jumping back and forth in time that might confuse viewers.
Soooo much profanity!

FUNNY LINES:

“I work hard for them when I’m not stealing anything.” – (Robert DeNiro)
“Tony? What’s the matter? Italians can only think of one name?” – Jimmy Hoffa (Al Pacino)

INTERESTING LINES: