I received some backlash for my A- review of Martin Scorsese’s “The Irishman” last year. Part of the flack is, I guess, having my review quoted on the film’s Wikipedia page - That just set my email into overdrive. I first saw Scorsese’s film at the New York Film Festival world premiere in September of 2019, despite some reservations I thought it was a fantastic achievement, calling it “Scorsese’s eulogy to Gangster cinema.”
“The Irishman” is a film that’s built to last, it takes its time in introducing the characters and its plotting, but, sure enough, it hits you like a wallop by the time De Niro’s Frank Sheeran and Al Pacino’s Jimmy Hoffa share that car ride. You know exactly the scene that I’m talking about. Just for the sheer scope of the thing, the performances and camera techniques, the film is truly a marvel. Many expected another “Goodfellas” and “Casino,” but that’s not what Scorsese ever intended. Going into “The Irishman” with that mindset will crush a viewer’s experience. No, this is more akin to a Gangster movie directed by the guy who gave us “Silence.” Contemplative, meditative, but harshly riveting.
I had some issues with the film’s final 15 or so minutes, but that’s peanuts when compared to the rest of the film’s sprawling 210 minutes. Now, in celebration of its DVD and Blu-Ray release on Criterion, a 40-minute making-of-doc has been unveiled by Netflix on YouTube. The footage is purely a cinephile’s delight and it shows the camaraderie, the decades of friendship, between De Niro, Pesci, and Scorsese. It really is a jewel of a document. I dare you not to smile as you watch these legends at work, making another landmark statement at the twilight of their careers.