Depending where one places Mean Streets in Scorsese's oeuvre, The Irishman is either the last in his mob trilogy with De Niro and Pesci that started with Goodfellas and Casino, or the bookend of a career that started in 1973. Either way, similar to Tarantino's Once Upon a Time... earlier this year, the coda on Scorsese's mafia features finds him contemplating the aftermath of the life these men choose as much as the life itself.
We follow Frank Sheeran, a Philly teamster, as he rises the ranks of both the local mob organization and Jimmy Hoffa's union over several decades. Depending how much Frank's accounts are to be believed (apparently he had trouble telling the truth about what time of day it was), that journey culminated in the disappearance of Hoffa -- murdered -- from a Detroit steakhouse parking lot in 1975.
Maybe it's because Netflix was paying for the $160m production (the CGI de-aging of De Niro, Pesci, and Pacino is largely convincing) but as compelling as the story is, Scorsese's direction itself lacks the visceral energy of Goodfellas or Casino. No widescreen photography, no one-take tracking shots like Henry escorting Karen to a front row table at the Copa. Instead, seemingly framed for a TV or mobile screen, we get endless one-shots of the main characters' giant heads and time-worn faces.
We follow Frank Sheeran, a Philly teamster, as he rises the ranks of both the local mob organization and Jimmy Hoffa's union over several decades. Depending how much Frank's accounts are to be believed (apparently he had trouble telling the truth about what time of day it was), that journey culminated in the disappearance of Hoffa -- murdered -- from a Detroit steakhouse parking lot in 1975.
Maybe it's because Netflix was paying for the $160m production (the CGI de-aging of De Niro, Pesci, and Pacino is largely convincing) but as compelling as the story is, Scorsese's direction itself lacks the visceral energy of Goodfellas or Casino. No widescreen photography, no one-take tracking shots like Henry escorting Karen to a front row table at the Copa. Instead, seemingly framed for a TV or mobile screen, we get endless one-shots of the main characters' giant heads and time-worn faces.
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