Martin Scorsese is undoubtedly one of the most talented directors of our time. My first exposure to his work was in the early 70’s with “Mean Streets”. It was the first of his mob themed films and set the stage for a number of classics to follow. Most people recognize and have hopefully seen his blockbusters like “Taxi Driver”, “Goodfellas”, “The Departed” and the incomparable “Raging Bull”. These alone would put him at the highest echelon of film directing.
In addition to these major achievements Scorsese has made a score of other memorable films which you should seek out if you have never seen them. One of my favorites is a little known gem entitled “After Hours” with Griffin Dunne (currently on “This is Us”) and Rosanna Arquette. This 1985 dark comedy is strange, uproariously funny and it shows another side of the Director. In a similar dark comedy genre his “King of Comedy” starring Robert De Niro, Sandra Bernhard and Jerry Lewis is a must see. Add to these the terrific documentary “The Last Waltz” capturing “The Band, and the beautiful “Hugo” and his genius can be fully appreciated.
Where was I? Oh yeah, “The Irishman”! This long awaited film has been in the works for nearly ten years and apparently has been through the Hollywood wringer more than a few times. After being dropped by Paramount, none other than Netflix picked up the rights for this nearly $200 million production. It is said that Scorsese is against doing films for TV release. Fortunately Netflix has released it to theaters prior to the small screen debut in a few days.
I much prefer to view movies on the big screen. Some films can work on television, especially when most of us have flat screens these days but there is nothing quite like a good movie theater with great sound, comfortable seats and a huge screen. I dashed out yesterday for an 11 am showing of “The Irishman”. It was a good move.
A few years ago I read Charles Brandt’s book “ I Heard You Paint Houses”. This film is based on this terrific book. Brandt spent many, many hours interviewing Frank “The Irishman” Sheeran who had climbed the ranks of the Teamsters with help from Philadelphia mob boss Russell Bufalino. Bufalino connected Sheeran to the infamous Jimmy Hoffa and the rest is history.
The cast in this film is beyond incredible. Oscar winners and nominees abound. De Niro is the “Irishman”. His performance is impeccable. The storyline covers many years and film technology rather than prosthetics does a great job moving the characters back and forth in time. Joe Pesci was asked to come out of retirement to play mobster Bufalino. It is said that he refused at least fifty times before finally agreeing to play the role. His performance is remarkable and my bet is that he will get an Oscar nomination. He is amazingly low key while at the same time striking fear with a seemingly passive look.
As you can imagine there is a fair amount of violence in the movie given the subject matter. I think Scorsese does a good job not overdoing it and focuses more on the characters and the dialogue.
Al Pacino gets to shine as Jimmy Hoffa. Amazingly this is his first Scorsese film. That’s hard to believe. Early in the film I wasn’t sure about Pacino as Hoffa but I was a big believer when the credits rolled. There are some terrific scenes between him and others that are often very funny and a joy to watch. Look for Pacino to garner award nominations galore to include an Oscar.
Stephen Graham plays Anthony Provenzano, a high ranking Teamster who challenged Hoffa often. Graham is terrific in the role. He played in Scorsese’s “Gangs of New York” as well as in the great mini series “Band of Brothers” as Sgt. Myron “Mike” Ranney . His performance is likely to get him more work in the coming years.
Rounding out the stellar cast are Oscar winner Anna Paquin “The Piano”, Emmy winner Bobby Cannavale (“Boardwalk Empire”), Harvey Keitel, Emmy winner Ray Romano, and a quasi cameo appearance as singer Jerry Vale by Steven Van Zandt.
Be advised that this movie approaches three and a half hours in length. I was a bit nervous about that but never once looked at my watch and it flew by for me.
I am grateful that Scorsese didn’t give up on this project and that Netflix stepped up with the funds. It’s hard to know if it will ever make money but thank goodness it’s part of filmmaking history and will go down as one of Scorsese’s best works. Catch it on the big screen if you can!
