**Robert De Niro. Al Pacino. Joe Pesci. Martin Scorsese. The Irishman is worth watching if only to see some of the best filmmakers of a generation collaborate on this epic, true-crime saga.**

Premise: Alone in nursing home, aging Mafia hitman Frank Sheeran (Robert De Niro) recounts the story of his life, including his friendship with crime boss Russell Bufalino (Joe Pesci), and his time working with infamous Teamsters’ President Jimmy Hoffa (Al Pacino).

Review:

It should almost go without saying that The Irishman is a good film, given the talent both in front of and behind the camera. De Niro and Pacino are often considered the greatest actors of their generation, while Scorsese is the kind of director that even non-cinephiles know by name. Pesci came out of retirement to make this film, which was written by the Oscar-winning Steven Zaillian. The supporting cast is also incredible – Ray Romano, Stephen Graham, Bobby Cannavale, Jesse Plemons and Anna Paquin all do a lot with their limited screen-time, and even Harvey Keitel makes a brief appearance. With all of these people involved, the plot of The Irishman is almost secondary to the enjoyment of just watching these actors bouncing off each other onscreen.

That’s not to say that there isn’t plot, as The Irishman covers a thirty-year timespan in the life of Frank Sheeran (De Niro), from the 1950s onwards. Using cutting edge VFX, the principle cast are de-aged to varying degrees over the course of the film, and although it is initially a little jarring the first time you see them at their youngest, you very quickly adjust and then don’t notice it at all for the rest of the movie. When we first meet Frank in the 1950s he’s running low-level scams as a delivery driver, but his willingness to keep his mouth shut when the authorities come asking questions earns him the respect of union lawyer Bill Bufalino (Ray Romano), who introduces Frank to his cousin, the head of the Northeastern Pennsylvania crime family, Russell Bufalino (Pesci).

“…Frank’s emotional detachment makes him such an interesting character for De Niro to play…”

From there Frank slowly becomes more heavily involved in the crime family’s activities, initially doing odd jobs and favours, before he demonstrates a particular talent for “painting houses” – mob-speak for Mafia executions. A World War II veteran, Frank has an emotional detachment which makes him particularly suited to the line of work, and it’s this aspect of Frank’s personality that makes him such an interesting character for De Niro to play. While he normally plays characters that are very intense, one way or the other, in this film De Niro plays Frank as a much more timid character, uncomfortable in certain social settings, and with a slight stammer on occasions. Nothing too over-the-top, but just enough to make Frank feel like a distinct and separate character from the “usual” De Niro type.

The same can be said of Pesci, whose portrayal of mob-boss Russell Bufalino couldn’t be further removed from the unstable and volatile characters he played in Goodfellas, Casino and the Lethal Weapon films. Here, Pesci is quietly understated as Russell, a man who always considers all his moves in advance and whose calm and kindly exterior masks whatever ruthlessness is under the surface. Funnily, the only character who seems immune to Russell’s charms is Frank’s daughter Peggy, so never smiles for “Uncle Russell” no matter how many treats and presents he showers her with.

“…one of the least glamourous mob films, with a strong sense of melancholy running throughout…”

Of the whole cast, for me it’s De Niro and Pesci who give the best performances, precisely because they’re playing slightly against type. When Pacino appears as Jimmy Hoffa, he’s playing a loud, confident and antagonistic character not entirely dissimilar from others he’s played in the past, and so as good as he is, it does feel like a more familiar performance. But that said, The Irishman is definitely a character study focusing on Frank, Russell and Jimmy, and the other characters (as well played as they are), just flit in and out of the story as their lives cross with the main three characters’.

On paper, The Irishman might sound like another rags-to-riches mob tale like Goodfellas, or another exploration of amorality and excess like The Wolf of Wall Street, but what makes The Irishman its own thing is its strong sense of melancholy that runs throughout. In its own way, this is one of the least glamourous mob films of recent years, as there’s an ever-present sense that despite all of their material success, none of the main characters are actually happy with their lives. Frank’s emotional detachment, that makes him such an effective hitman, prevents him from forming any meaningful bond with his children, while Russell’s life also seems sadly devoid of affection. Meanwhile, Jimmy has such a sense of entitlement when it comes to the running of “his” International Brotherhood of Teamsters, that he’s never happy with what he’s got, and risks everything to hold onto his power and influence.

“…a poignant & thoughtful crime epic from some of the greatest filmmakers of their generation…”

It’s in the final half-an-hour that The Irishman really sets itself apart from the rest of the genre, as it follows the characters well into old age where other films might have finished when the “main” events are wrapped up in the mid-70s. By focusing on what comes next, Scorsese really highlights the futility of the mobsters’ lives, which continues a theme that runs right from the start (where onscreen captions appear whenever a new minor character appears, explaining how each of them meet an untimely end in the near future). The central message of The Irishman is that no one in that world gets to ride off into the sunset at the end.

If there’s one quibble, one thing that keeps The Irishman from being a nailed-on 5-star film, for me it’s the three-and-a-half-hour runtime. There’s no escaping the fact that the middle section of the film begins to drag and loses narrative momentum, and I can’t help but wonder whether it would have worked better as a three-hour film with a tighter middle section, or as a four-part miniseries (given that, despite a very limited cinema release, most people will be watching The Irishman on Netflix). But this is just a minor niggle, and certainly not a reason to miss this poignant and thoughtful crime epic from some of the greatest filmmakers of their generation.