{"id":19542,"date":"2019-11-22T17:08:58","date_gmt":"2019-11-23T01:08:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=19542"},"modified":"2019-11-22T17:08:58","modified_gmt":"2019-11-23T01:08:58","slug":"the-irishman-presents-a-fascinating-take-on-the-jimmy-hoffa-mystery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=19542","title":{"rendered":"THE IRISHMAN Presents a Fascinating Take on the Jimmy Hoffa Mystery"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This film is currently in theaters in select markets and\npremieres November 27th<\/sup> on Netflix.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Martin Scorcese has directed some incredible crime films\nover the past four decades, including Mean Streets<\/em>, Goodfellas<\/em>, Casino<\/em>,\nGangs of New York<\/em> and The Departed<\/em>. It\u2019s safe to say this\nmoviemaker certainly knows a thing or two about underworld figures and\ndelivering their stories with authenticity. His latest, The Irishman<\/em>, is\nbased upon the 2004 non-fiction memoir I Heard You Paint Houses<\/em>, which\ndetails the life of a hit man who finds himself in the company of the mob and\none of the country\u2019s most notable union leaders. The project allows Scorcese to\nwork with familiar faces and paint yet another incredible portrait of a mystery\nfrom the point of view of a man who may have witnessed it all. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Told through flashbacks, the tale follows Frank Sheeran\n(Robert DeNiro), a war veteran and truck driver ready to do anything to earn\nmore money for his family. Frank accidentally crosses paths with local mobster Russel\nBufalino (Joe Pesci), who takes an immediate liking to him. The driver is soon\nindoctrinated into a syndicate that includes Angelo Bruno (Harvey Keitel) and\nfamily lawyer Bill Bufalino (Ray Romano). In part due to his experiences in the\nwar, Frank finds assassinating random targets to be no strain on his\nconscience. But while most of his family appear unconcerned, his violent\nactivities create a continuing rift with daughter Peggy (Lucy Gallina and Anna\nPaquin). As Frank rises up the mob ranks, he also befriends union leader Jimmy\nHoffa (Al Pacino), with whom he forms one of his closest bonds. But as tensions\nrise between Hoffa and the outfit, the lead is forced into choosing sides.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Much of the publicity revolving around the film involves\nthree lead performers, who are much older than the characters they portray.\nExtensive digital technology has been used to de-age them during various time\nperiods. On a big screen (where this reviewer watched the picture), it works very\nwell for the most part. A few medium shots of DeNiro early on have a somewhat\nwaxy appearance, but as time passes and the story builds, the CGI work being\nemployed ceases to be a distraction. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The effects work may be most convincing on Pacino, whose\ntransformation looks seamless. He carries himself so well that it almost feels\nlike the actor is channeling a younger version of his onscreen persona. Hoffa\nis also a fascinating eccentric (one thing is for certain \u2013 the man likes his\nsundaes and you don\u2019t ever want to deny him his ice cream) and the character\nveers been stubborn and sweet as well as angry and impertinent depending on the\nsituation. Pacino delivers some of the film\u2019s most compelling moments\n(involving confrontations with mobsters and associates), painting a fascinating\nand detailed picture of a man who finds his organization slowly being taken\nfrom him by criminal figures. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The movie is also helped by the detailed screenplay. This is\na more subdued and melancholic gangster picture from Scorcese, that through the\nFrank character examines the personal consequences and effects of embarking on\na life of crime. Even so, the movie isn\u2019t ponderous and the dialogue couldn\u2019t\nbe crisper. The camera moves from the director are a bit more subtle in this\nfeature, but the movie still looks impressive, employing a few striking long\nshots and some snappy editing techniques. While this is one of the longest\nfilms in recent memory, the running time does allow for a fuller picture of\nhistory to be presented, and various reasons behind deal-making and beefs\nwithin the group are elaborated upon. In fact, the second act detailing Hoffa\nand the specific connections between all sorts of public and private person and\nthe conflicts involved are endlessly fascinating to watch. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The climax also shows an interesting theory about what may\nhave happened to Hoffa. While we may never know the truth, the skill displayed\nhere in front of and behind the camera makes it a very plausible and believable\nexplanation. You\u2019ll see a master filmmaker and a group of actors all in their\nelement, delivering excellent work that will fascinate anyone with an interest\nin the subject matter. Viewers may need a sandwich to sustain themselves while\nwatching The Irishman<\/em>, but it is certainly worth the time and the\npicture makes for more than a filling meal. \n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This film is currently in theaters in select markets and premieres November 27th on Netflix. Martin Scorcese has directed some incredible crime films over the past four decades, including Mean Streets, Goodfellas, Casino, Gangs of New York and The Departed. It\u2019s safe to say this moviemaker certainly knows a thing or two about underworld figures […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":19545,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[197,904,1498,4910,8100,8924,9208,10710,10787,13320,14120,16699,17150,21145,21146],"class_list":["post-19542","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-movie-reviews","tag-197","tag-al-pacino","tag-anna-paquin","tag-crime","tag-gangster","tag-harvey-keitel","tag-hit-man","tag-jimmy-hoffa","tag-joe-pesci","tag-martin-scorcese","tag-mob","tag-ray-romano","tag-robert-deniro","tag-the-irishman","tag-the-irishman-review"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19542","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=19542"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19542\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=19542"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=19542"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=19542"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}