THE IRISHMAN
OUT 7 NOVEMBER (CINEMAS), 27 NOVEMBER (NETFLIX) CERT M / 209 MINS
DIRECTOR Martin Scorsese
CAST Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Joe Pesci, Anna Paquin, Harvey Keitel, Stephen Graham, Bobby Cannavale
PLOT 1950s America. Frank Sheeran (De Niro), a war veteran and truck driver, falls in with crime boss Russell Bufalino (Pesci). He rises up the ranks and is seconded to work with Teamsters boss Jimmy Hoffa (Pacino). But eventually his two pay masters clash.
IF YOU KNOW anything about , you’ll know two things: CGI ageing technology has made Robert De Niro, Al Pacino and Joe Pesci look like young bucks, and it’s long (three-and-a-half hours). Well, it’s the(a euphemism for splattering the walls with blood), that neither really come into play. For Scorsese, helped by terrific performances across the board, replaces curiosity about technical trickery (you get over it so quickly) with fascination with a man’s life. While it delivers all the Scorsese-ness you want (you’ll lose count of how many times someone gets shot in the face), this is Marty in mature mode, a compelling meditation on time, ageing, connections and guilt that reaches the parts other gangster films only dream of.
