The Irishman

2019 superhero movie

Rating: 16/20

Plot: The life and career of some tough guy who worked closely with Jimmy Hoffa.

I feel as if I was tricked because going in, I thought this was Martin Scorsese's superhero movie, the origin story of some comic character I've never heard of called The Irishman. All I got from this is a story about some guy who eats tons of ice cream, a story that somehow works Don Rickles in.

"You don't know how fast time goes by until you get there." That line hit me. That line made a movie that I wasn't sure was any good at all for the first hour of it's three-and-a-half-hour running time into something great.

I'm not sure how anybody can watch this and not like it. Scorsese's a master, of course, and it's great seeing this cast do their thing at least one more time. De Niro brings this quiet force into his role as the titular character, and Pacino is doing his Pacino thing a bit--which, don't get me wrong, I love--but is also playing a real character with real emotions. And he eats a ton of ice cream. And Joe Pesci. Man, that guy is so good here.

It's been an eclectic decade for Scorsese. I mean, this movie is nothing at all like the meditative Silence, though they're both deliberately paced. And Silence is almost like an antithesis to its predecessor, The Wolf of Wall Street. Before that was a freakin' kids movie! And before that was the spooky surrealism of Shutter Island. Those are five completely different movies. This might be my third or fourth favorite of those actually. I guess I'd have to think about that more.

I hit the pause button while watching this and gave myself an intermission so that I could use the restroom, get a drink, and find my cat. And maybe get some ice cream.