3 Short Paragraphs (Or Not): The Irishman

2019, Martin Scorsese (The Wolf of Wall Street) -- Netflix

There are directors you are supposed to admire, movies you are supposed to see -- or at least that is what they say. Scorsese movies often end up in the Oscar race for one aspect or another, but that is their decision. I am not sure I see what they see.

Scorsese is not really my thing. Nor is he Kent's. We have seen a handful of his movies, even wrote about a few. But I have never really felt compelled to watch his movies. Even this one, I more felt compelled to watch it to see a different side of film, something that the industry talks about, speaks favourably about, holds as high standards in making cinema. I guess I don't see it.

Oh, I see it. I see that he is a very competent director, a compelling film maker. He does a brilliant job on the finer details of a movie, such as framed shots, dialogue, pacing, etc. All the components are masterfully done. But even so, I am left feeling... much like Frank did in this movie... nothing. Like everyone, I loved Goodfellas when I saw, but I don't think I have felt a need to rewatch it in the 30 years since I saw it. I did once attempt to watch Gangs of New York again, as I recall it being much more fantastical in nature, but I didn't make it all the way through.

This is another gangster movie. It tells the story of 1950s truck driver Frank Sheeran (Robert De Niro, Machete), an Irishman, who catches the attention of the Phily mob, joins their ranks, and then moves with them through the years, until they all die off. It is based on a non-fiction book "I Heard You Paint Houses", which is mafioso for "kill people" and explains the story of what happened to Jimmy Hoffa (Al Pacino, Danny Collins). If you are of a certain age, you grew up hearing about the disappearance of union leader Jimmy Hoffa, all the speculation and conspiracy theories behind it.  This book is not considered a historical fact as to what happened, just another part of the mythology. You may also be like me, and never really understood why we were supposed to care.

I watched this three-and-a-half hour movie over a number of days. The Media PC has been turned off this week due to the heat, and I have been left to my streaming services. I cannot imagine watching this movie in the cinema. let alone in one sitting on the sofa. But in giving it multiple sittings, I can only say it probably lent itself to keeping my attention. I wasn't afforded the opportunity to get truly bored or annoyed by it. 

Scorsese is known for his "conversations", his dialogue. Almost the entire movie is about conversations between two men, with the occasional break so Frank can shoot someone in the head, or family gatherings, over which we can hear Frank's voiceovers of the events. Every so often there is text laid over a scene, to show how a mobster met his end. Often the conversations are saying something, without saying exactly the thing, as if they are worried about being bugged. I was not sure if it was a statement on how they always felt they were being listened to, or just an affectation of being a mafia man. If anything, it lends to the immersion.

If anything of the movie caught me, it was the immersion. The depiction of the less than glamourous lives of these gangsters felt very tangible. They are all making godawful amounts of money, but it never really shows. They did most of their work in run down cafes, or in the backs of middle-class businesses. Their lives outside work are not elegant, more visually well-off upper middle class. But one thing felt entirely off for me, and that was the use of Robert De Niro as Frank Sheeran. The movie tells the tale as a recollection, elderly Frank talking to someone, a priest or empty room, we are never really sure. When Frank started working for the mob, he was in his mid-30s, but De Niro was around 75. Sure, they shoe-polish his hair, and De Niro is a spry man for 75 (a lot more than I will be 25 years from now), but its very very apparent this is not a man in his late-30s, or his 40s, and even stretching believability when he reaches his 50s. No digital work is used, thankfully, but I was not immersed so much that I let it go.

In the end, I can say I watched the movie, and was glad for it. But that's it. Nothing else. No revelations, no break throughs on the work of Scorsese, no grand opinions of the work of a "master". It was a movie, well-done, well acted, incredibly well shot.

Meh.