Welcome to another edition of the “The Valero Verdict” movie review. In this I will give you a quick movie review with a couple of bullet points of which I either liked or disliked. I will end the review with rating of the movie and a short overall thoughts.

On the docket today, the highly anticipated Martin Scorsese Netflix movie, The Irishman.

Russell Bufalino (Joe Pesci) and Frank Sheeran (Robert De Niro) talk business. Photo Credit: Niko Tavernise. © 2019 Netlfix US, LLC. All rights reserved.

Plot: A mob hitman recalls his possible involvement with the slaying of Jimmy Hoffa.

The Good:



Martin Scorsese: This man is my all-time favorite director. When you watch this film, you know it is a Scorsese film. He took on a story that I don’t think any director in the world would tackle, the mob theme is his wheelhouse and where he tends to knock it out of the ballpark.



He also provides some of the best story telling within his characters I have seen all year (also massive credit to Steve Zaillian for the writing). I love the depth of which he provided for the story of Frank Sheeran.



Scorsese is such a master of his craft. The way he structured the film was breathtaking and flawless. Every single movement within this film meant something.

The cast: Robert De Niro – Al Pacino – Joe Pesci



First let me start by saying this was one of the best ensemble cast of the year.



I do believe this might be my favorite role of Robert De Niro. I think a lot of it had to do with the beautiful story telling that Scorsese provided us for his character. But the way De Niro was able to take what was on paper and put it on the big screen was great.



Joe Pesci back on the big screen was glorious to see, he packed several punches throughout the film.



But time to talk about the MVP of this film. Al Pacino. At 79 years old and a filmography that is massive, Pacino gave the best performance of his career. From the first time we are introduced to him as Hoffa, he just commanded the screen and never turned back. He is ruthless, funny and a downright smart ass sometimes. Brad Pitt has some serious competition in the Supporting Actor category for the Oscars.

The editing: This was a HUGE highlight of the film. While the film does feel long in length, the editing does it’s best to keep you intrigued throughout the entire film.

Production Design: Oh how I love the feeling of watching an old movie and seeing the older set pieces, the work it takes to put into these sorts of things. I wanted to feel that late 50’s/early 60’s vibe of the mobster era and I did. The production was magnificent.

The Bad:

The run-time. You don’t feel the 209 minutes until right around that last thirty minutes. It just felt like it was going to drag on forever. They had the perfect moment to end the movie and it kept going.

Favorite Scene: Meeting with Hoffa/Frank/Provenzano – This was just hilarious, Pacino was such a dick and just so very funny.

Oscar Predictions: Best Picture. Best Director. Best Actor. Best Supporting Actor. Best Editing. Best Costume Design. Best Production Design.

The Verdict:

**** out of ***** gavels

This was a good movie, borderline very good movie but it does come with it’s issues.



The film was 3 and half hours and you felt it. I truly feel like Scorsese could have trimmed a solid 30 minutes off this film and the film could’ve been closer to a masterpiece. The last 30 minutes of the film was long and drawn out.



I walked out of the film wanting so much more from it. I will quote my fellow MCFCA member “I wanted to feel dirty when I walked out”. He was right, this film didn’t give you the feel of a mob movie.



See the film though, while I had issues with the film it really is a nice addition to an already fantastic movie collection of Scorsese.

Should You See It?: It’s Martin Scorsese, ABSOLUTELY. If you get a chance to see this movie in theaters, do it.

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