Martin Scorsese's The Irishman (Post-release)

[jarvis]

At the beginning of the movie I thought it a sort of vanity project for geezers, but as it progressed it reveled itself to be a deeper reflection on the genre that made Scorsese and his collaborators household names. A fitting epilogue.

 

[robstyle]

The de age thing was a very soft hit and hard miss with parts leaving me confused at what era we were supposed to be in. The part where DeNiro meets Pesci had me laughing when he calls him "kid" as it was clearly one 55 year old man talking to another 55 year old man, and that was WITH CGI de ageing. Being a new media Netflix movie a theatrical release may have never been in the works outside of some small screenings. The run time itself forbids a wide release. That is all in all my biggest issue, 3 1/2 hours! This didnt feel anything like what people are comparing it to as in Casino or Goodfellas but more of the early days of Scorcese like Mean Streets. This one dragged heavily at a snails pace and was missing, something. I just cant put my finger on it. Could be the grit and grime look of the beige and brown era in a 4k viewing world. Just missing something.

 

[PoopaPapaPalps]

I think what it was missing was actually something that the narrative was intentionally trying to avoid: sympathy. De Niro's character is unlike any of the other leads in Scorsese's crime films because it was all a job to him; he did only as he was told and did it without question. Unlike Liotta's character in Goodfellas, who loved every minute of it, and we as the audiences were presented with his image of his crime days. Even in Casino, or even Mean Streets, there was always a contrast of perspectives on those involved in the underworld just to give the audience something to connect to. In case of The Irishman, it's completely dry.

While I enjoyed the movie, beyond the performances, I found it very hard to actually care about anything that happened in the movie because Sheeran (De Niro) is completely apathetic to everything around him. He does as he's told and does it dispassionately. We ultimately see him bothered by this towards the end of the film but, even then, it's almost like he's trying to feel remorseful when in fact, he doesn't really care. That's something recurring in the movie and while it works for the character, I think it ultimately puts a wall between us, as a viewer, and the movie.

 

[ConvergencePro]

I think what it was missing was actually something that the narrative was intentionally trying to avoid: sympathy. De Niro's character is unlike any of the other leads in Scorsese's crime films because it was all a job to him; he did only as he was told and did it without question. Unlike Liotta's character in Goodfellas, who loved every minute of it, and we as the audiences were presented with his image of his crime days. Even in Casino, or even Mean Streets, there was always a contrast of perspectives on those involved in the underworld just to give the audience something to connect to. In case of The Irishman, it's completely dry.

While I enjoyed the movie, beyond the performances, I found it very hard to actually care about anything that happened in the movie because Sheeran (De Niro) is completely apathetic to everything around him. He does as he's told and does it dispassionately. We ultimately see him bothered by this towards the end of the film but, even then, it's almost like he's trying to feel remorseful when in fact, he doesn't really care. That's something recurring in the movie and while it works for the character, I think it ultimately puts a wall between us, as a viewer, and the movie.

Definitely agree to a point, but I think the way it was made was more meant to be as a lesson to the audience more than it was something Sheeran (De Niro) would necessarily learn and grow from. Hes rejected every chance to show genuine remorse because he approaches life from a “whats done is done and theres no changing it” view point, and ultimately in the end his blind loyalty and belief in this mentality leaves him dying completely alone in the end, him realizing this (though not explicitly saying it) in the final scene before the fade to black. There is no happy ending for him here and thats the price hes paying

 

[robstyle]

from what I take of the "whats done is done" aspect, ball dropped by not showing that something inside of him broke during his time in WW2 or as a child. Then again, with these "gangster" movies none of the gangsters ever come off as intimidating or dangerous to me. Just guys that chose a lifestyle and live it.

 

[The Terminator]

After all them millions they spent making actors look younger... a single person can make it look way better using AI:

 

[PoopaPapaPalps]

Just saw this myself. It does look heaps better, but gotta give credit where credit is due, the deepfake wouldn't look half as convincing if it weren't for all the ILM folks fixing the face and neck to start with.

There's no fixing movements of 60-70+ year old actors, unfortunately.