‘The Irishman’ is a mobster epic

Posted on December 13, 2019

By MARK VIOLA

For the second year in a row, I watched a potential Best Picture nominee not in a movie theater but at home on Netflix. This time last year, it was Alfonso Carón’s Spanish-language film “Roma.”

This year, we have Martin Scorsese’s mobster epic, “The Irishman,” starring Academy Award winners Robert De Niro, Al Pacino and Joe Pesci (who came out of retirement to be in  this movie). At three hours, 27 minutes, and with a reported $160 million budget, everything about this movie is grand.

The acting is just as good as you would imagine with the cast involved. Scorsese delivers yet another mobster film that feels wonderfully familiar yet fresh and interesting. The special effects used to de-age the actors — allowing us to follow these characters over decades of their lives — is spectacular, if not completely flawless.

Really, the only major issue I had with “The Irishman” was the screen I saw it on. Now, I have a decent television, and the movie looked fine, but I couldn’t help but wonder what it would have been like to watch this movie on a massive theatre screen surrounded by fellow Scorsese fans. Sadly, I’ll never get that opportunity.

Subscribe to our e-Edition and read the rest of the story. Already a subscriber? Click here to sign in.