The Irishman (2019)

The Irishman

• This movie was absolutely amazing. That about sums up my thoughts in one sentence. Basically everything about this movie was perfect, and it was super entertaining. You definitely wouldn’t enjoy it if you don’t like long movies, but despite the 3 hour 30 minutes runtime, it kept me sucked in for every single second. The story was extremely well written, and much like The Godfather and Goodfellas, it’s very intricate and provides a lot of detail. I was reminded a little bit of Goodfellas in this movie, as well as the series The Offer. Joe Colombo and Joe Gallo make a brief appearance, which is cool if you’ve seen The Offer. I also really liked two specific things about the story. The first is that the characters were based on real people and events, so it made the movie feel even more authentic. The second thing I loved was that a lot of the business done by the families involved unions, which was a breath of fresh air when it comes to crime/drama movies. The acting all around was absolutely phenomenal, and each actor hit an absolute home run with their role. Being able to have De Niro, Pesci, and Pacino in one movie was awesome, and it's such a great team-up. There were two specific characters I want to point out. One was RFK, and even though he didn’t have a big role, Jack Huston did a great resemblance and portrayal of RFK. Probably one of the characters I enjoyed the most was Ray Romano as Bill Bufalino. It’s really nice to see Ray in a serious role, and he killed it. I’m used to him cracking jokes and goofing off, so watching him play one of the prominent figures in this movie was awesome. I didn’t know he was in it, so when he showed up the first time, I absolutely lost it. Another thing I loved about certain characters was the de-aging CGI that they used to make the actors look younger. It was extremely good, and you couldn’t tell one bit. It’s easily some of the best facial feature CGI I’ve ever seen, and I was thoroughly impressed. I also loved how some of the characters were introduced with their date and cause of death, and it shows you how dangerous being involved with the mafia is. However, this movie doesn’t need to rely on violence or gang wars to make it interesting. I really loved how the story was told from the POV of Frank Sheeran. It was done in an interview style, so as you watch the movie, you see things happen while Frank explains what’s going on, as well as see him talking about it. It had a documentary type feel, which only added to the greatness of the story and setting. The characters/story also did a great job of communicating through silence, as well as their eyes. There were so many scenes where it was quiet, and nobody said a word, but you could feel the emotion coming from them. It was amazing to watch, and I loved how they could tell the story just by sitting in silence. The overall setting was great, and the sets, cars, and clothes really captured the time period well. I also loved the involvement of the Kennedy family, and seeing/hearing news clips of the Kennedy’s, as well as JFK’s assassination, helped build onto the historical feel. The last thing I’ll mention is the soundtrack. It had a great mixture of arrangements as well as songs from the time period that was portrayed, and it helped authenticate the characters and setting. Overall, this is easily one of the best movies I’ve ever seen, and I can’t wait to watch it again. This film is officially Berry Approved, so go watch it now!