By Vincent Abbatecola
Throughout Martin Scorsese’s iconic career, he has given us some of American cinema’s greatest movies. However, an aspect of his career for which he’s most known is his contribution to gangster films, such “Mean Streets,” “Goodfellas,” “Casino,” and “The Departed.” With these movies, he observed this kind of story from several angles, resulting in these films maintaining a freshness to them, thanks to him and his collaborators.
Scorsese’s latest gangster movie, “The Irishman,” could now be considered one of his best movies and shows how the talents of him and his team are as strong as ever and still have a tremendous amount to offer.
The film tells the true story of Frank Sheeran (Robert De Niro), a truck driver who soon becomes involved with the mafia after an encounter with mobster Russell Bufalino (Joe Pesci). As Sheeran gets deeper into a life of crime, he soon becomes involved with labor union leader Jimmy Hoffa (Al Pacino), which soon begins to trouble Russell.
While De Niro has only had just a few performances over the last few years that have spoken to his talents as an actor, his role as Sheeran reminds us of the powerhouse persona that he can bring to a film. Right as Frank enters the world of the mafia, De Niro has him show a great deal of confidence without making it seem like he’s trying too hard to fit in. He shows the ease with which Frank begins his new life, as if Frank is already a pro at this. While De Niro does well in building the intimidation of his character as Frank goes deeper in his life of crime, he also handles the more emotional aspects of his character in a downplayed, yet hard-hitting way and shows a palpable inner conflict as he faces some tough decisions later in the film.
Pacino imbues his performance with an abundance of charisma and command. The passion with which Pacino has Hoffa deliver his speeches makes you see why crowds of people were drawn to this figure. The vigor and humor that you will find in Pacino’s character is a terrific match for a larger-than-life actor like him. In the scenes where Hoffa has to address a crowd, you know that his big personality won’t accept anything less than a group of hundreds, and Pacino shows himself as a grand example of what it means to take a character and give it everything that you have.
Pesci delivers a performance that’s the complete opposite of his character in “Goodfellas.” Although he’s a gangster, he’s not the hothead that his character of Tommy DeVito was in that film, but instead plays a different kind of mobster, one who has a sense of calm about him, showing an individual who has everything under control and not much of a reason to worry about anything. He’s someone who knows what needs to be done and how to do it. He has the personality of someone who is ingrained in the mafia, and Pesci brings an abundance of magnetism as soon as you’re introduced to Russell.
Besides De Niro, Pacino, and Pesci’s characters, the story gives us a whole Rolodex of minor characters that help to flesh out this world and show us the far-reaching nature of the mafia. We’re given just enough information about each of those characters to have us aquatinted with them, but not so much that it becomes overburdening.
There are a few characters, however, who are given more of an opportunity to stand out, such Ray Romano as Bill Bufalino, Russell’s cousin; Stephen Graham as Anthony “Tony Pro” Provenzano, Caporegime of the Genovese crime family; Sebastian Maniscalco as New York City gangster Joseph “Crazy Joe” Gallo; and Harvey Keitel (a frequent collaborator of Scorsese’s) as mobster Angelo Bruno.
The screenplay by Steven Zaillian, which is based on Charles Brandt’s 2004 book, “I Heard You Paint Houses,” offers an extensive look at this notable chapter in American organized crime, and every aspect of the story is well-paced to the point where you feel as though you’re receiving the fullest picture of the events that are depicted. Given that the story spans across a few decades, Zaillian brings us across a fascinating look at changing times as the characters try to hold on to their way of life as things start to fall apart.
As with most of Scorsese’s movies, he and Zaillian have the main character offer narration throughout the film that grants us access to how he’s processing his experience in becoming a part of the criminal underworld and how he’s going to maintain his stature within that group. It provides us with a personal connection as we go with him down a road on which he never thought he would find himself, thereby having Scorsese maintain his rich tradition of taking us inside the consciousness of intriguing and troubled characters.
The last half hour of the movie has the story become a deep mediation on mortality that ends up being one of the movie’s finest aspects. Despite the bad things that Sheeran does, the hopelessness and regret that he feels is still heartbreaking to witness as he begins to deteriorate and face the end of his life. Given how Zaillian shows us so much that Sheeran has done, we understand the mental impact that this takes on him as he must think about everything that has transpired over the last few decades.
With editing by long-time Scorsese collaborator Thelma Schoonmaker, she makes sure that every scene feels necessary. As she works with Scorsese’s direction and Zaillian’s screenplay, they all create a flawless blend of their talents to create a crime saga that’s loaded with insights into who the characters are. At three and a half hours, this is Scorsese’s longest movie, and although you feel that length from time to time in the second half, everything about this movie is so enthralling that you don’t even care about the runtime.
Scorsese shows that his ability to capture the world of gangsters remains as strong as ever. Between the costuming, set design, and music, you can feel yourself being sent to different times, times with which Scorsese has a passionate connection. Besides his aptness to resurrect these environments, he also shows that he’s in full command of the groundbreaking CGI technology to make the three leads look younger for the earlier parts of the movie. Scorsese has made some unforgettable movies, but this is going to be remembered as his epic.