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Review: The Irishman (2019)
I wasn't a fan of this movie. Spoilers.
Story
This movie had three timelines. The first timeline was Frank's rise in the ranks of the mob. The second timeline began Frank went on his road trip with Russell and their wives to the wedding until he ended up in the seniors' home. And the third timeline was Frank telling his story to an unknown audience.
I didn't know that this movie was based on a real story, but I don't think it would've affected my views on the story except that I am also extremely tired of biopics. It feels like nobody is able to write a story anymore and they always have to take from real people's lives and real narratives in order to draw people to their movie, even if they end up changing a bunch of details or re-interpreting them to fit a more exciting narrative. Just write a new story, dude.
In general, I didn't feel invested in the story. I didn't find Frank to be an interesting character. Maybe it was because I was expecting a typical gangster character. In particular, I found Frank's "rise to the top" story line to be unbelievable. When he first met Russell, he was already not a young man, but the casting is another thing that I'll get to later. Frank was a relatively confident guy who started working for the mob, but he just didn't seem like a guy who was constantly learning. He seemed like the same guy at the beginning of his mob career and when he'd received the ring from Russell, signifying that he was a top member of the mob. I think the acting and the story telling didn't put together a cohesive picture to express that sort of rise.
The defining moment in Frank's life seemed to be killing Jimmy Hoffa. The entire movie seemed to be building up to that. And after he killed Hoffa, we saw the fallout. The fact that this murder was his defining moment seemed reasonable. It was the first time that Frank had to kill someone he was close friends with as a direct order of the mob. In addition, killing Jimmy cut off his relationship with Peggy forever. Peggy probably represented a part of him that still had good, that was still capable of reconciliation. After he was no longer able to reach Peggy, he seemed to have no more remorse for all of his actions. He continued to protect the mob despite all of them having died, and he told the priest he didn't feel remorse for his actions.
There were some drawn out conversations, but many of them were plot-related, and didn't seem to shed any additional light. They might've exhibited a character's behaviour (such as Frank's refusal to tell the police anything or Jimmy and Pro's argument in Florida), but I didn't find any of them particularly inspiring.
Production
Acting
The acting was okay when the conversations were interesting. Like I mentioned above, not all conversations were meaningful, and for those conversations, the acting didn't seem to do its job. I didn't care about the conversation and so the acting didn't seem to matter.
I felt like the acting wasn't propped up by the story too well. Yes, there were specific instances in which conversations were well acted, but the events that happened before and after didn't matter to me at all, so the conversations didn't fulfill their true potential.
Casting
I had a big problem with Robert De Niro reprising the younger version of himself. When Frank began his mob career, he was referred to as "kid" by Russell. I don't know how seriously I was supposed to interpret that nickname, but Robert De Niro just didn't give the impression that he was a guy who was new to the mob business. He felt too "Robert De Niro," too much of an experienced guy, than a guy who was new and wanted to impress the higher ups.
I think I would've enjoyed the movie more if a younger actor had been casted for young Frank (along the same timeline as young Peggy).
Directing
I wasn't sure if the movie was trying to go for quirky. There were times when we saw "character cards" showing characters that would only show up for a short while. These character cards would show how the characters died. I wasn't really sure what the point of these cards were. These pauses would be something that I'd associate with black comedy or comedy films, but I didn't think it suited this film at all.
Length
Oh my goodness this movie was far too long. Maybe the length also contributed to why I felt that Frank's rise to power was unreasonably portrayed.
Several scenes were directed with a very slow pace, and that was definitely something that contributed to the outrageous length of the movie.
I did lose interest in the film, and perhaps I would've been more interested if some scenes were taken out of the movie.
Costumes
When Frank was still a new guy to the mob, there were certain times where he'd be wearing a very nice suit. This got me confused several times because I was confused about Frank's rank. It's kind of an unspoken rule that you don't show off in front of your boss, right? So I thought some of the costumes weren't appropriate to the moment in time it was portraying. I was already confused because Robert De Niro was playing both his young and older versions, and not having clear distinctions in the clothing choices also added confusion to that.
Characters
I didn't find any of the characters likeable. I know that perhaps it isn't the goal of this movie, for characters to be likeable, but it made it hard to get through this movie where I already didn't like the story too much.
Frank Sheeran
Frank seemed pretty interested in joining the mob right off the bat. He was happy to get cozy with Russell Bufalino and all of the other associates. Once he joined the mob, he seemed to be okay with being more violent and aggressive.
Frank pretended that he was keeping his family safe and keeping them out of his business, but perhaps he just preferred to ignore them, knowing that they would probably abhor everything he'd done and shun him forever. His true family was Russell Bufalino always.
Out of the corner of his eye, Frank probably always noticed that Peggy viewed him differently. From the beginning Peggy disliked Russell, probably because of his mob connections. However, she liked Jimmy a lot. Maybe it was because Jimmy hid his own mob connections, and so Peggy only saw that Jimmy that fought for worker's rights and such.
In any case, Frank killing Jimmy pushed Peggy away forever, probably because she had initially hoped that Jimmy's relationships with their family would mean something. When Frank killed Jimmy for the mob, he definitively chose the mob over his own family.
After he was committed to the old folks' home, he started talking a bit more about his feelings. He didn't want to tell the FBI anything, even though there was no one to protect anymore. He told the priest that maybe he was trying to atone, but he honestly didn't feel sorry. The only reason he wanted to atone was probably because Peggy hated him so much. He had a talk with another of his daughters after Peggy ignored him at her job. That daughter told him how hard it was for them, but Frank still didn't seem to acknowledge what he'd done. He said he wanted to apologize to Peggy but he didn't even know what he was apologizing for. Maybe Frank saw the judgment in Peggy's eyes and he didn't want her to judge him like that. I think he wanted his biological family to acknowledge that everything he was doing was to protect his comrades in the mob, even if it meant killing.
The film ended with Frank in the old folks' home, asking the priest to leave the door open a little for him. I don't know if that means that he'll still want to continue to atone, but honestly, I don't feel hopeful that he'll get there.
Jimmy Hoffa
Jimmy was the leader of a workers' union. The union was his all he cared about. His children were all grown, and he poured his life into leading the union and getting into conflicts with even the top presidential candidates. His unwillingness to step down from the leading the union after he got out from prison was the tipping point for the mob, who'd been supporting him financially and with muscle.
Frank had developed a deep friendship with Jimmy. Even their families got along swimmingly. But he didn't seem all that troubled when Russell had asked him to off Jimmy. Frank had made up his mind, but it did't seem that he had hesitated at all. Jimmy's death was a little jarring because he'd died and not even known who was tasked with killing him.
Ultimately, Jimmy was a little too obsessed with leading his union. He based his entire life around the union and in the end, his unwillingness to let go of what he'd poured his life into took his life.
Russell Bufalino
Russell mentored Frank as he was working in the mob. Even though Russell presented Frank with a ring, showing that he was a top mob member, he was still kind of working under the instruction of Russell.
I'm not really sure what caused Frank to be so loyal to Russell. Maybe it was just that Frank wanted to belong, and Russell was the first to take him under his wing.
Honestly, I didn't feel that Russell had that big of a presence as a character. He was working as a mouthpiece of the higher ups in the mob, I suppose, but I didn't feel that he was a real, tangible character.
Peggy Sheeran
Peggy seemed to hate everything to do with the mob. It made sense considering she'd seen such a traumatic assault as a child. As to what drew her to Jimmy Hoffa, my guess is his fight for workers' rights. We see that in school, she'd written a report on the benefits that the union provided, such as health insurance and such.
Over the years, I think that idolization mellowed out to an admiration for an uncle figure. Jimmy seemed to pay special attention to Peggy as a child. It might've been weird, but I guess he was more of a loving father figure to Peggy than Frank himself was.
So it was a total betrayal to Peggy when Frank killed him. Her biological father killed the only father figure she'd known, and that was unforgiveable.
Themes
Digging own grave
When Frank was stationed in Italy, he told a story of how he'd force soldiers to dig their own graves. Those soldiers would do it, hoping that maybe he'd change his mind, but he never did.
Joining the mob definitely led to an early death for many mob members. As to why they kept staying in the mob, it's hard to say. Some of them do it because that's all they know. But if one were to leave the mob and get killed so that they don't tattle, is that not just as risky as it is working for the mob?
The mob has brought so much death to those around Frank, and yet he still continued to protect it. Maybe it was an instinct. Or maybe it was just that he truly believed in the work that he did. He stayed loyal to Russell even after Russell's death, even though Russell had only ever destroyed his relationships.
Doing the job yourself
Russell said when he asked people to do tasks for him, he expected them to do it themselves or else there'd be too much evidence linking things back to him. From a literal standpoint, it was also became easier for Russell to erase evidence. He'd only have to kill one or two guys as opposed to several who just kept pawning jobs off to other people.
We saw that Frank often did do jobs himself, including many jobs for Russell. So if Frank were ever to turn against Russell, Russell would just have to kill Frank. So getting Frank to do the job himself was an act that protected Russell but exposed Frank. We don't know if Frank realized this, but he stayed on this track through to the end. I choose to believe it was out of loyalty rather than fear of Russell, but Frank was really digging his own grave too by taking these sorts of actions.
Overall
Overall, I didn't really like this movie. I think the outrageous length of the movie would turn most people, but the story and acting just didn't do anything for me.
Story
This movie had three timelines. The first timeline was Frank's rise in the ranks of the mob. The second timeline began Frank went on his road trip with Russell and their wives to the wedding until he ended up in the seniors' home. And the third timeline was Frank telling his story to an unknown audience.
I didn't know that this movie was based on a real story, but I don't think it would've affected my views on the story except that I am also extremely tired of biopics. It feels like nobody is able to write a story anymore and they always have to take from real people's lives and real narratives in order to draw people to their movie, even if they end up changing a bunch of details or re-interpreting them to fit a more exciting narrative. Just write a new story, dude.
In general, I didn't feel invested in the story. I didn't find Frank to be an interesting character. Maybe it was because I was expecting a typical gangster character. In particular, I found Frank's "rise to the top" story line to be unbelievable. When he first met Russell, he was already not a young man, but the casting is another thing that I'll get to later. Frank was a relatively confident guy who started working for the mob, but he just didn't seem like a guy who was constantly learning. He seemed like the same guy at the beginning of his mob career and when he'd received the ring from Russell, signifying that he was a top member of the mob. I think the acting and the story telling didn't put together a cohesive picture to express that sort of rise.
The defining moment in Frank's life seemed to be killing Jimmy Hoffa. The entire movie seemed to be building up to that. And after he killed Hoffa, we saw the fallout. The fact that this murder was his defining moment seemed reasonable. It was the first time that Frank had to kill someone he was close friends with as a direct order of the mob. In addition, killing Jimmy cut off his relationship with Peggy forever. Peggy probably represented a part of him that still had good, that was still capable of reconciliation. After he was no longer able to reach Peggy, he seemed to have no more remorse for all of his actions. He continued to protect the mob despite all of them having died, and he told the priest he didn't feel remorse for his actions.
There were some drawn out conversations, but many of them were plot-related, and didn't seem to shed any additional light. They might've exhibited a character's behaviour (such as Frank's refusal to tell the police anything or Jimmy and Pro's argument in Florida), but I didn't find any of them particularly inspiring.
Production
Acting
The acting was okay when the conversations were interesting. Like I mentioned above, not all conversations were meaningful, and for those conversations, the acting didn't seem to do its job. I didn't care about the conversation and so the acting didn't seem to matter.
I felt like the acting wasn't propped up by the story too well. Yes, there were specific instances in which conversations were well acted, but the events that happened before and after didn't matter to me at all, so the conversations didn't fulfill their true potential.
Casting
I had a big problem with Robert De Niro reprising the younger version of himself. When Frank began his mob career, he was referred to as "kid" by Russell. I don't know how seriously I was supposed to interpret that nickname, but Robert De Niro just didn't give the impression that he was a guy who was new to the mob business. He felt too "Robert De Niro," too much of an experienced guy, than a guy who was new and wanted to impress the higher ups.
I think I would've enjoyed the movie more if a younger actor had been casted for young Frank (along the same timeline as young Peggy).
Directing
I wasn't sure if the movie was trying to go for quirky. There were times when we saw "character cards" showing characters that would only show up for a short while. These character cards would show how the characters died. I wasn't really sure what the point of these cards were. These pauses would be something that I'd associate with black comedy or comedy films, but I didn't think it suited this film at all.
Length
Oh my goodness this movie was far too long. Maybe the length also contributed to why I felt that Frank's rise to power was unreasonably portrayed.
Several scenes were directed with a very slow pace, and that was definitely something that contributed to the outrageous length of the movie.
I did lose interest in the film, and perhaps I would've been more interested if some scenes were taken out of the movie.
Costumes
When Frank was still a new guy to the mob, there were certain times where he'd be wearing a very nice suit. This got me confused several times because I was confused about Frank's rank. It's kind of an unspoken rule that you don't show off in front of your boss, right? So I thought some of the costumes weren't appropriate to the moment in time it was portraying. I was already confused because Robert De Niro was playing both his young and older versions, and not having clear distinctions in the clothing choices also added confusion to that.
Characters
I didn't find any of the characters likeable. I know that perhaps it isn't the goal of this movie, for characters to be likeable, but it made it hard to get through this movie where I already didn't like the story too much.
Frank Sheeran
Frank seemed pretty interested in joining the mob right off the bat. He was happy to get cozy with Russell Bufalino and all of the other associates. Once he joined the mob, he seemed to be okay with being more violent and aggressive.
Frank pretended that he was keeping his family safe and keeping them out of his business, but perhaps he just preferred to ignore them, knowing that they would probably abhor everything he'd done and shun him forever. His true family was Russell Bufalino always.
Out of the corner of his eye, Frank probably always noticed that Peggy viewed him differently. From the beginning Peggy disliked Russell, probably because of his mob connections. However, she liked Jimmy a lot. Maybe it was because Jimmy hid his own mob connections, and so Peggy only saw that Jimmy that fought for worker's rights and such.
In any case, Frank killing Jimmy pushed Peggy away forever, probably because she had initially hoped that Jimmy's relationships with their family would mean something. When Frank killed Jimmy for the mob, he definitively chose the mob over his own family.
After he was committed to the old folks' home, he started talking a bit more about his feelings. He didn't want to tell the FBI anything, even though there was no one to protect anymore. He told the priest that maybe he was trying to atone, but he honestly didn't feel sorry. The only reason he wanted to atone was probably because Peggy hated him so much. He had a talk with another of his daughters after Peggy ignored him at her job. That daughter told him how hard it was for them, but Frank still didn't seem to acknowledge what he'd done. He said he wanted to apologize to Peggy but he didn't even know what he was apologizing for. Maybe Frank saw the judgment in Peggy's eyes and he didn't want her to judge him like that. I think he wanted his biological family to acknowledge that everything he was doing was to protect his comrades in the mob, even if it meant killing.
The film ended with Frank in the old folks' home, asking the priest to leave the door open a little for him. I don't know if that means that he'll still want to continue to atone, but honestly, I don't feel hopeful that he'll get there.
Jimmy Hoffa
Jimmy was the leader of a workers' union. The union was his all he cared about. His children were all grown, and he poured his life into leading the union and getting into conflicts with even the top presidential candidates. His unwillingness to step down from the leading the union after he got out from prison was the tipping point for the mob, who'd been supporting him financially and with muscle.
Frank had developed a deep friendship with Jimmy. Even their families got along swimmingly. But he didn't seem all that troubled when Russell had asked him to off Jimmy. Frank had made up his mind, but it did't seem that he had hesitated at all. Jimmy's death was a little jarring because he'd died and not even known who was tasked with killing him.
Ultimately, Jimmy was a little too obsessed with leading his union. He based his entire life around the union and in the end, his unwillingness to let go of what he'd poured his life into took his life.
Russell Bufalino
Russell mentored Frank as he was working in the mob. Even though Russell presented Frank with a ring, showing that he was a top mob member, he was still kind of working under the instruction of Russell.
I'm not really sure what caused Frank to be so loyal to Russell. Maybe it was just that Frank wanted to belong, and Russell was the first to take him under his wing.
Honestly, I didn't feel that Russell had that big of a presence as a character. He was working as a mouthpiece of the higher ups in the mob, I suppose, but I didn't feel that he was a real, tangible character.
Peggy Sheeran
Peggy seemed to hate everything to do with the mob. It made sense considering she'd seen such a traumatic assault as a child. As to what drew her to Jimmy Hoffa, my guess is his fight for workers' rights. We see that in school, she'd written a report on the benefits that the union provided, such as health insurance and such.
Over the years, I think that idolization mellowed out to an admiration for an uncle figure. Jimmy seemed to pay special attention to Peggy as a child. It might've been weird, but I guess he was more of a loving father figure to Peggy than Frank himself was.
So it was a total betrayal to Peggy when Frank killed him. Her biological father killed the only father figure she'd known, and that was unforgiveable.
Themes
Digging own grave
When Frank was stationed in Italy, he told a story of how he'd force soldiers to dig their own graves. Those soldiers would do it, hoping that maybe he'd change his mind, but he never did.
Joining the mob definitely led to an early death for many mob members. As to why they kept staying in the mob, it's hard to say. Some of them do it because that's all they know. But if one were to leave the mob and get killed so that they don't tattle, is that not just as risky as it is working for the mob?
The mob has brought so much death to those around Frank, and yet he still continued to protect it. Maybe it was an instinct. Or maybe it was just that he truly believed in the work that he did. He stayed loyal to Russell even after Russell's death, even though Russell had only ever destroyed his relationships.
Doing the job yourself
Russell said when he asked people to do tasks for him, he expected them to do it themselves or else there'd be too much evidence linking things back to him. From a literal standpoint, it was also became easier for Russell to erase evidence. He'd only have to kill one or two guys as opposed to several who just kept pawning jobs off to other people.
We saw that Frank often did do jobs himself, including many jobs for Russell. So if Frank were ever to turn against Russell, Russell would just have to kill Frank. So getting Frank to do the job himself was an act that protected Russell but exposed Frank. We don't know if Frank realized this, but he stayed on this track through to the end. I choose to believe it was out of loyalty rather than fear of Russell, but Frank was really digging his own grave too by taking these sorts of actions.
Overall
Overall, I didn't really like this movie. I think the outrageous length of the movie would turn most people, but the story and acting just didn't do anything for me.