I touch on what the final 30 minutes of this movie consist of
When hearing about a new Martin Scorsese mob movie that would star DeNiro, Pesci, Keitel and Pacino, my thoughts felt similar to my thoughts on the existence of The Expendables.
I certainly did not think The Irishman would be of the same quality as The Expendables (nor do I). But the “we’re not like other old people, we’ve still got another one in us” attitude of that action movie crossover at the very least lingered in my head. The use of de-aging technology did little to alter this feeling (though, in hindsight, it probably should have).
“I get that they’re old now, but I really want to make another mob movie with the guys, and I’ll use whatever technology I need to make it”, Scorsese said in my head.
….so.
That wasn’t the case.
The Irishman isn’t a movie that’s made despite the place its leads and director are at in their life, but because of it. The de-aging (its use isn’t a game-changer for the technology but it gets the job done) is only here because the movie wants to show us the full adult life of these men. The de-aging helps with the beginning, and the movie doesn’t shy from the middle or the end, going so far as to put the leads in some good old fashioned old people makeup to lengthen their years.
It’s more than an assumption to propose that they intentionally stretched out the “end” portion. Of its massive runtime, the majority of The Irishman goes by with a quick pace and relative ease; it’s the last 30 or so minutes where you really feel it. And that’s a good thing. Confronting everything from loss to struggling with food to picking out your grave, this final half hour wrings out every last detail. And what’s left after a life of murder, crime, and ladder climbing?
Nothing.
What if it’s a life of murder, crime, and ladder climbing done for your family or because you just had to?
Still nothing.
It’s probably too soon to call The Irishman a masterpiece, but I look forward to the day I can. This is a rich, bleak, beautiful work that is haunting me, and I am loving every moment of this depressing reflection.
devilsadvocritic 