The Irishman

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Inchy
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The Irishman

Post by Inchy » Wed Nov 27, 2019 8:35 pm

Out on Netflix today and I have just finished watching it.

It’s a decent film with a fantastic cast. Not a patch on some other mobster films such as goodfellas, once upon a time in America, Carlitos way.

I’d give it 7/10

The Enclosure
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Re: The Irishman

Post by The Enclosure » Wed Nov 27, 2019 10:04 pm

Just watched it ..to be honest i thought it was very overated.It is almost 3 and a half hours long as well.
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Inchy
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Re: The Irishman

Post by Inchy » Wed Nov 27, 2019 10:07 pm

Felt the same. 7/10 is probably a bit much.

Heard the hype due to the cast and director but it narrative isn’t a patch on goodfellas

Garnerssoap
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Re: The Irishman

Post by Garnerssoap » Wed Nov 27, 2019 11:49 pm

Not sure anything is a patch on goodfellas. Carlitos way has some wonderful sequences in it

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Re: The Irishman

Post by Pstotto » Thu Nov 28, 2019 5:42 pm

Oh and that bit in the film where they open the refrigerated lorry....

AlargeClaret
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Re: The Irishman

Post by AlargeClaret » Thu Nov 28, 2019 5:47 pm

I thought it was decent but it’s no Casino or even Goodfellas .Had the feel ( imo) of “ once upon a time” but it never really gets out of 3rd gear . Still a good film but no cigar .
It’s worth mentioning another very good gangster film called “ The Irishman” don’t be put off by Vinny Jones in the cast either it’s an excellent true story

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Re: The Irishman

Post by tarkys_ears » Thu Nov 28, 2019 6:10 pm

Given its 3.5 hours, I might give it a miss then.
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yTib
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Re: The Irishman

Post by yTib » Thu Nov 28, 2019 6:12 pm

once upon a time in america is up (or down) there with the deerhunter as overblown, boring and overrated.

Inchy
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Re: The Irishman

Post by Inchy » Thu Nov 28, 2019 6:40 pm

AlargeClaret wrote:I thought it was decent but it’s no Casino or even Goodfellas .Had the feel ( imo) of “ once upon a time” but it never really gets out of 3rd gear . Still a good film but no cigar .
It’s worth mentioning another very good gangster film called “ The Irishman” don’t be put off by Vinny Jones in the cast either it’s an excellent true story

I think that’s called ‘kill the Irishman’. Very good film

Siddo
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Re: The Irishman

Post by Siddo » Thu Nov 28, 2019 6:50 pm

yTib wrote:once upon a time in america is up (or down) there with the deerhunter as overblown, boring and overrated.
I'm not sure you would get a job as a film critic.
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AlargeClaret
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Re: The Irishman

Post by AlargeClaret » Thu Dec 05, 2019 10:55 am

Inchy wrote:
Thu Nov 28, 2019 6:40 pm
I think that’s called ‘kill the Irishman’. Very good film
That’s the one !

Lord Beamish
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Re: The Irishman

Post by Lord Beamish » Thu Dec 05, 2019 11:00 am

Inchy wrote:
Thu Nov 28, 2019 6:40 pm
I think that’s called ‘kill the Irishman’. Very good film
That was the one about the rise and fall of Irish American Mobster Danny Greene in the Cleveland Underworld. It had Ray Stevenson in the lead role.
Really good and fairly accurate True Crime drama.

duncandisorderly
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Re: The Irishman

Post by duncandisorderly » Thu Dec 05, 2019 11:11 am

It was only alright. Absolutely no need for it to be 3.5 hours long, I couldn't really tell you what it was about, the de-aging of the three leads was odd, and there wasn't enough Harvey Keitel.

It's worth a watch if you like Goodfellas as it's a bit like that but in a retirement home.

Paul Waine
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Re: The Irishman

Post by Paul Waine » Thu Dec 05, 2019 11:11 am

Enjoyed all 3 and half hours.

Has anyone noticed how movies - and a lot of music - is now about "getting old and the end of life" - or is that just me.

Scorsese is older, the actors are older - and I'm older :( - so we might see a lot more films that work for the older generation.

Spoiler: not everyone in the film lives to an old age. ;)

Well worth a watch - especially if you can pause it every now and again for the necessary "ad breaks."

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Re: The Irishman

Post by jrgbfc » Thu Dec 05, 2019 11:26 am

Thought it was perfectly watchable but won't go down alongside Goodfellas and Casino as all time classics. I also thought it dragged on a bit towards the end and could have been 20 minutes shorter easily.
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SammyBoy
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Re: The Irishman

Post by SammyBoy » Thu Dec 05, 2019 2:13 pm

I thought it was good but I wish he'd used new actors. Despite the special effects to make the cast appear younger it didn't seem convincing to me, and this scene in particular was laughably bad, De Niro moves like he's every bit of his 76 years :lol: :lol:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFhnseX5unc

Spiral
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Re: The Irishman

Post by Spiral » Wed Jan 08, 2020 3:13 am

The use of older actors, and specifically 'HIS' - Scorsese's - older actors, De Niro and Pesci, was absolutely necessary from an artistic perspective, I think. I don't think it would have worked, artistically, without those two. It's a tremendous slog at times, painfully boring in the end of the first act/middle third, but the artistic intent comes through in the third act when it finally clicks and you realise this is a deliberately sad and pathetic closing chapter on the mob genre, and Scorsese's mob film career as a whole. Scorsese won't even try to make another mob film before he dies, I guarantee it. The meaning behind this film is the evidence for that.

This is a statement from him; his final thoughts on a genre he elevated: Goodfellas is dead, it's 2019 (at time of release), and 'Wiseguys' - in spite of all their cinematic glamour, and those characters' perceived machoistic strength, and violence through which those characters honourably perceive themselves as merely 'providing for and protecting their families' - are ultimately unimportant, irrelevant, pathetic, distant from their families, and mostly dead; as individuals, and as character archetypes. They look like feeble old men by design, not by accident. Scorsese realises he's 30 years removed from a genre-defining movie that was at the time in and of itself nostalgic. The self awareness of this fact is beautiful. I hated parts of this film, but when viewed as a whole work of art realised that Scorsese is making a statement on how sad, pathetic and irrelevant that line of 'work' (mobster) actually is. I genuinely didn't know what was going on after an hour, but perhaps that was intentional and served to put you in the shoes of De Niro's character. He seemed passive and confused by his promotion to regional union president. Perhaps that's a metaphor, I dunno'? The final line by De Niro was bloody brilliant, though, and cements Scorsese's intentions, to me. Scorsese knows his time is up (and, specifically, the genre and it's celebrated clichés), but he doesn't want to close the door completely on his life and career. That's how you end a film:- Poignantly! That's true artistry. It's a masterpiece of a film with a tediously boring plot, but not a moment of it isn't carefully crafted. One of the best-worst films I've watched in a long while.
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AlargeClaret
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Re: The Irishman

Post by AlargeClaret » Wed Jan 08, 2020 5:45 am

Just watched this a second time during a long flight and though enjoyable the age thing at times just doesn’t work .Theres a scene where De Niro ( supposed to be about 40) beats a guy up yet he literally moves like an 80 yr old it’s painfully embarrassing ,though the “ de -aging” works far better with RD’s face than it does for Al Pacino who almost looks like a cartoon character at times. Great performances from all concerned though .

Dyched
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Re: The Irishman

Post by Dyched » Wed Jan 08, 2020 12:15 pm

Spiral wrote:
Wed Jan 08, 2020 3:13 am
The use of older actors, and specifically 'HIS' - Scorsese's - older actors, De Niro and Pesci, was absolutely necessary from an artistic perspective, I think. I don't think it would have worked, artistically, without those two. It's a tremendous slog at times, painfully boring in the end of the first act/middle third, but the artistic intent comes through in the third act when it finally clicks and you realise this is a deliberately sad and pathetic closing chapter on the mob genre, and Scorsese's mob film career as a whole. Scorsese won't even try to make another mob film before he dies, I guarantee it. The meaning behind this film is the evidence for that.

This is a statement from him; his final thoughts on a genre he elevated: Goodfellas is dead, it's 2019 (at time of release), and 'Wiseguys' - in spite of all their cinematic glamour, and those characters' perceived machoistic strength, and violence through which those characters honourably perceive themselves as merely 'providing for and protecting their families' - are ultimately unimportant, irrelevant, pathetic, distant from their families, and mostly dead; as individuals, and as character archetypes. They look like feeble old men by design, not by accident. Scorsese realises he's 30 years removed from a genre-defining movie that was at the time in and of itself nostalgic. The self awareness of this fact is beautiful. I hated parts of this film, but when viewed as a whole work of art realised that Scorsese is making a statement on how sad, pathetic and irrelevant that line of 'work' (mobster) actually is. I genuinely didn't know what was going on after an hour, but perhaps that was intentional and served to put you in the shoes of De Niro's character. He seemed passive and confused by his promotion to regional union president. Perhaps that's a metaphor, I dunno'? The final line by De Niro was bloody brilliant, though, and cements Scorsese's intentions, to me. Scorsese knows his time is up (and, specifically, the genre and it's celebrated clichés), but he doesn't want to close the door completely on his life and career. That's how you end a film:- Poignantly! That's true artistry. It's a masterpiece of a film with a tediously boring plot, but not a moment of it isn't carefully crafted. One of the best-worst films I've watched in a long while.
Fantastic review. I’ve been meaning to watch it but will go out of my way to do now.

For me the art on cinema is dead or at least dying faster than ever. Movies like music should make you feel something. Make you wanna do something, go somewhere give you dreams, aspirations. The only reason I’ve been to New York is Taxi Driver.

Scorsese is a genius. His documentaries are on a par with his films too.

KateR
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Re: The Irishman

Post by KateR » Wed Jan 08, 2020 3:01 pm

watched with my son, both enjoyed it, probably for different reasons, he thought it to long, I was fine with it, am not a film critic but like something that keeps my attention and it did, will probably watch again just to see if I missed everything. Thought the acting was excellent, from a different perspective maybe, I thought the wives were good characters and tried imagining what life would be like when you found out what your husband really did for work. I also enjoyed the interactive discussions/facial expressions of the wives to husband regarding smoking, particularly in the car and considering the vast majority of adults at that time were smokers.

NottsClaret
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Re: The Irishman

Post by NottsClaret » Wed Jan 08, 2020 4:06 pm

AlargeClaret wrote:
Wed Jan 08, 2020 5:45 am
Theres a scene where De Niro ( supposed to be about 40) beats a guy up yet he literally moves like an 80 yr old it’s painfully embarrassing
I had the same problem. The de-ageing gimmick was just about acceptable until then, but that scene killed it. Couldn't really watch after that, the whole thing felt a bit daft. Probably just watch Goodfellas again instead.

TVC15
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Re: The Irishman

Post by TVC15 » Wed Jan 08, 2020 4:21 pm

I thought it was really good actually - and the main thing is to not try and compare it to Goodfellas, Mean Streets, The Godfather etc as this might taint your view of it without taking the film for what it is worth itself.

I enjoyed the story and how this developed and I liked the fact that the characters were old - it gave a different perspective to things.

Great to see some of my favourite actors together - De Niro and Pacino might be in there 70s now but still both brilliant and to see them together was great. Stephen Graham is good and he must have been in heaven getting to play with these guys.

I watched it over 2 nights as 3 hours is a long watch for a film that does not have a great deal of action in the traditional mob film sense - I think this helped my enjoyment as I liked the second half better and really enjoyed how the film developed.

Talking of Netflix I watched Lillyhammer on the recommendation of someone on this board and thought it was excellent - would definitely recommended it. 3 series with 8 episodes in each I think.

Steve1956
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Re: The Irishman

Post by Steve1956 » Tue Feb 16, 2021 6:57 pm

Any up to date netflix recommendations....

Cirrus_Minor
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Re: The Irishman

Post by Cirrus_Minor » Tue Feb 16, 2021 7:01 pm

I watched it a while back and thought it was excellent. I would certainly recommend it.

Stalbansclaret
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Re: The Irishman

Post by Stalbansclaret » Tue Feb 16, 2021 7:20 pm

Big disappointment for me given Scorcese's track record and boy did it drag for the last half hour or so.

Wellsy1882
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Re: The Irishman

Post by Wellsy1882 » Tue Feb 16, 2021 7:23 pm

Still havent watchdd 2nd half
Got bored

Jambounchained
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Re: The Irishman

Post by Jambounchained » Tue Feb 16, 2021 7:25 pm

Absolute crap

Was really looking forward to it as well.

bobinho
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Re: The Irishman

Post by bobinho » Tue Feb 16, 2021 7:45 pm

Disappointed if i'm honest. Didn't want to compare it to anything, but thats very difficult when modern cinematic history is absolutely crammed full of top quality gangster type films, so it was inevitable really.

It didn't come out well.

Claret Alfie
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Re: The Irishman

Post by Claret Alfie » Tue Feb 16, 2021 7:49 pm

I thought it was a bit disappointing too. Also, according to many the story isn’t true either.

charlyt
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Re: The Irishman

Post by charlyt » Tue Feb 16, 2021 11:15 pm

It's Hollywood.

Wile E Coyote
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Re: The Irishman

Post by Wile E Coyote » Tue Feb 16, 2021 11:58 pm

its a lengthy dirge of a film. no redeeming features. made and acted by previous giants, but its useless.

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