The Irishman - Review - Mihnea Jipianu

“The Irishman” (original: “I heard You Paint Houses”) is a 2019 American movie, the epic drama, directed and produced by Martin Scorsese and written by Steven Zaillian, based on the 2004 book “I Heard You Paint Houses”. In the main roles we can find the following resounding names : Robert De Niro, Al Pacino and Joe Pesci along with Ray Romano, Bobby Cannavale, Anna Paquin, Stephen Graham, Stephanie Kurtzuba, Jesse Plemons, Hervey Keitel in the secondary roles. The movie features Frank Sheeran (De Niro), a truck driver who becomes a paid killer and an associate of mobster Russell Bufalino (Pesci) and his family, including the time he worked for powerful union leader Jimmy Hoffa (Pacino).

In the first place I would like to say that I am not bothered by long movies with slow action. Unfortunately “The Irishman” is too long and the action becomes boring and predictable. The acting game is an impressive one, but some dialogues between the characters are useless and do nothing but kill the suspense.

Secondly, the movie does not have any spectacular scene. This is an extremely great disappointment especially when you consider the cast and the crew involved in the production of this film. There is not a single memorable scene or line that stands out for me although it is visible that the actors have dedicated themselves completely to this production. Also the CGI was not bright at all because Frank’s face looked very weird in his youth years. The music is not memorable either, even though it can be an artistic choice to make the movie feel more grounded and unglamorous.

Third, for such a slow movie you would expect that the ending of the movie will be an unforgettable one. Unfortunately, the ending is an extremely predictable one, being known since the middle of the film.

So where does this leave us? I think that the story behind the movie is an interesting one, but it is presented in an inappropriate way. I would recommend it only if you are very passionate about mafia games and politics.