Review : The Irishman
"Solidarity! Solidarity! Solidarity!!". That's what Jimmy Hoffa calls for while addressing his fellow supporters at Union meeting. Solidarity means "unity for a feeling or an action among individuals with a common interest". 'Splendid' - that's another word for excellent, and splendid it is when all the masters of their respective crafts demonstrated their "solidarity" in giving us one of the best, if not the best, movies of the year. This was the most awaited film of the year and it is worthy of every single second of that waiting.
Martin Scorsese's latest "The Irishman" created an expected euphoria before it's release and rightly so. The news of Scorsese teaming up with Al Pacino, Robert De Niro ( his ninth feature film along with Scorcese ) and Joe Pesci, alone was enough for the movie lovers worldwide to get excited about it. The film opens with playing "In the still of night" in the background with the camera taking us through an old age home and to a very old Frank Sheeran. As soon as he starts speaking, we can feel a sense of conflict along his words and expressions, between a probable remorse and "I had no other choice but..." feeling. He starts narrating his own story, on how he started as a truck driver in the 50's and how some chance encounters and deeds left him find himself around some of the fearsome mob and gang "royalties" who gripped the U.S with fear through those periods. Frank becomes the right hand to Russell Bufalino, the man who "controls everything". As Frank's reputation grows he gets involved with a lot more powerful people, such as James Hoffa, who is the head of the Teamsters. In time, Frank gets close to Hoffa and the bond between the two stretches as far as between their families and kids. Soon, problem arises when Hoffa gets into altercation with the mafia over several issues which leaves Russell and Hoffa on different sides with Frank playing the peacemaker to try to bridge their indifferences until it gets to the point where he has to pick a side.
Thanks to the exemplary make ups and technologies, we see De Niro and Joe Pesci rolling back the years to their "youth" and gives us some major vibes of their previous epic gangster movies such as Goodfellas, Casino, Once upon a time in America etc. The movie starts with such intensity that we almost forget that Al Pacino is casted in the movie till he marks his presence almost close to the quarter to an hour mark. It is a joy to watch how the legendary actors exchange baton in taking the lead effortlessly at different stages of the movie and it reaches crescendo when De Niro and Pacino brings their A game to elevate their characters halfway through the film, building up to the grand showdown. The final thirty minutes are solely bestowed on showcasing the brilliance of Robert De Niro. In an year which would have seen Joaquin Phoenix run away with Oscar with no other contenders, De Niro shows up with all his class and brilliance to make it a two horse race.
Martin Scorsese has nothing to prove to the world, yet he comes out showing us why he is the legend he is and why he is the undisputed king of story telling when it comes to this particular genre. The movie touches several historic moments such as after effects of WWII, the rise of Fidel Castro in Cuba and the assassination of John F. Kennedy, which personally gave me a different essence as someone who is interested in those particular historical events, along with the thrill of watching two of my most favorite actors of all time, or the best two ever, sharing the screen together once again after a very long time.
Any doubt which was raised over the three and a half hour long running time is put to rest in the most glorious way and it requires a very special effort to get that sort of victory over the current cinema viewers with a very low attention span comparatively to the previous generations. Well, when you have someone like Scorsese directing the names like De Niro, Pesci and Pacino, nothing is impossible and it leaves the door open to all sorts of magnificence and magnificent it is!
Martin Scorsese's latest "The Irishman" created an expected euphoria before it's release and rightly so. The news of Scorsese teaming up with Al Pacino, Robert De Niro ( his ninth feature film along with Scorcese ) and Joe Pesci, alone was enough for the movie lovers worldwide to get excited about it. The film opens with playing "In the still of night" in the background with the camera taking us through an old age home and to a very old Frank Sheeran. As soon as he starts speaking, we can feel a sense of conflict along his words and expressions, between a probable remorse and "I had no other choice but..." feeling. He starts narrating his own story, on how he started as a truck driver in the 50's and how some chance encounters and deeds left him find himself around some of the fearsome mob and gang "royalties" who gripped the U.S with fear through those periods. Frank becomes the right hand to Russell Bufalino, the man who "controls everything". As Frank's reputation grows he gets involved with a lot more powerful people, such as James Hoffa, who is the head of the Teamsters. In time, Frank gets close to Hoffa and the bond between the two stretches as far as between their families and kids. Soon, problem arises when Hoffa gets into altercation with the mafia over several issues which leaves Russell and Hoffa on different sides with Frank playing the peacemaker to try to bridge their indifferences until it gets to the point where he has to pick a side.
Thanks to the exemplary make ups and technologies, we see De Niro and Joe Pesci rolling back the years to their "youth" and gives us some major vibes of their previous epic gangster movies such as Goodfellas, Casino, Once upon a time in America etc. The movie starts with such intensity that we almost forget that Al Pacino is casted in the movie till he marks his presence almost close to the quarter to an hour mark. It is a joy to watch how the legendary actors exchange baton in taking the lead effortlessly at different stages of the movie and it reaches crescendo when De Niro and Pacino brings their A game to elevate their characters halfway through the film, building up to the grand showdown. The final thirty minutes are solely bestowed on showcasing the brilliance of Robert De Niro. In an year which would have seen Joaquin Phoenix run away with Oscar with no other contenders, De Niro shows up with all his class and brilliance to make it a two horse race.
Martin Scorsese has nothing to prove to the world, yet he comes out showing us why he is the legend he is and why he is the undisputed king of story telling when it comes to this particular genre. The movie touches several historic moments such as after effects of WWII, the rise of Fidel Castro in Cuba and the assassination of John F. Kennedy, which personally gave me a different essence as someone who is interested in those particular historical events, along with the thrill of watching two of my most favorite actors of all time, or the best two ever, sharing the screen together once again after a very long time.
Any doubt which was raised over the three and a half hour long running time is put to rest in the most glorious way and it requires a very special effort to get that sort of victory over the current cinema viewers with a very low attention span comparatively to the previous generations. Well, when you have someone like Scorsese directing the names like De Niro, Pesci and Pacino, nothing is impossible and it leaves the door open to all sorts of magnificence and magnificent it is!
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