'The Irishman' Early Buzz: Martin Scorsese Has Made Another Masterpiece
Who bets against a legend like Martin Scorsese? To be fair, The Irishman seemed like the master filmmaker behind Goodfellas, Casino and Taxi Drive may have been biting off more than he could chew. A 209-minute, Netflix funded crime epic that features extensive visual effects to transform the core cast into younger versions of themselves spanning 50 years? That's...a lot.
But now, The Irishman has had its world premiere and the first reactions are rolling in...and they're almost all thrilled with the film. It seems that Scorsese's biggest risk in years may be another masterwork.
/Film's own Chris Evangelista, a noted Martin Scorsese fanatic, was over-the-moon with The Irishman, calling it an instant classic:
THE IRISHMAN is a masterwork. Funny, epic, and most of all, melancholy. It's Scorsese confronting aging, legacies, and mortality. I may or may not have teared up at the end...
— Chris Evangelista (@cevangelista413) September 27, 2019
/Film writer Hoai-Tran Bui was also at the premiere and she also loved the film:
Martin Scorsese's bid to make his CITIZEN KANE is pretty close to a masterpiece. De Niro, Pacino, Pesci are all firing on all cylinders, and the 3+ hour runtime rarely drags. The de-aging effects are rough but I couldn't imagine this sprawling saga without De Niro the entire time
— Hoai-Tran Bui (@htranbui) September 27, 2019
Chris will have a review ready to run on the site when the embargo is up, but he certainly was not alone in praising the film:
THE IRISHMAN – Audacious, epic, a film that feels like it spans lifetimes yet whisks by. Technically bold, performances raw and darkly humourous, it is the culmination of Scorsese's genre fascinations, and a late career triumph. Truly cinematic, demanding to be seen big #nyff57
— Jason Gorber (@filmfest_ca) September 27, 2019
THE IRISHMAN: An instant Martin Scorsese crime classic that's everything you want to be, and more.
De Niro's best work in ages, Pesci lights up the screen, and Al Pacino as Jimmy Hoffa screaming about the Kennedys is the peak of cinema!
— Brett (@BrettRedacted) September 27, 2019
THE IRISHMAN is like a greatest hits album from a master of the medium. Yes, that's a positive.
The artifice of de-aging is more feature than bug.
It's not "slow." It often moves like lightening & elsewhere it's downright Bressonian.
This is not a review! Those are embargoed.
— erickohn (@erickohn) September 27, 2019
It's a masterpiece. Period. #TheIrishman @TheNYFF
— Robert Levin (@Rlevin85) September 27, 2019
THE IRISHMAN: al pacino ... oscar ?????
— karen han (@karenyhan) September 27, 2019
Boy. #TheIrishman is a fitting homecoming for De Niro, Pacino, Pesci, and Scorsese's ode to gangster cinema. Hilarious and sharply written. A portrait of mortality and legacy, told like a culmination of everything we have ever seen in this genre. It's LONG but never boring. #NYFF pic.twitter.com/OBTAXem4On
— kevin l. lee (@Klee_FilmReview) September 27, 2019
To expand: THE IRISHMAN is well paced. Pacino gives one of his performance in years. Pesci surprisingly plays against type. Incredibly funny. I'll save the rest of my thoughts for the review. #NYFF57
— Robert Daniels (@812filmreviews) September 27, 2019
I wish I could take a photo in he dark of all these people on their phones doing twitter hot takes on #TheIrishman. Here's mine: it's middle of the Scorsese pack. Def more of a sober character study than classic tense mob thriller
— Mara Reinstein (@MaraReinstein) September 27, 2019
Alright, more coherent thoughts on #TheIrishman to come in my review tonight but I'll say this for now because I know people are curious about it: The de-aging worked for me! Jarring at first, but you got used to it, and De Niro was good enough that it didn't matter.
— Anna Menta (@annalikestweets) September 27, 2019
#TheIrishman is utterly exceptional – vintage Scorsese. It takes so much from his best films and then becomes its own. Three brilliant performances and the deaging was no problem at all. #NYFF @FilmInquiry @netflix pic.twitter.com/wTCwhuopY9
— Brent Goldman (@bgoldmanphoto) September 27, 2019
#TheIrishman is Scorsese's version of "On the Waterfront" meets "The Godfather," almost a swan song with an added layer of nostalgia for his own past work. The editing is particularly excellent and all three actors are strong #NYFF57 #NYFF
— J Don Birnam (@jdonbirnam) September 27, 2019
THE IRISHMAN: Think GOODFELLAS, but directed by the man who gave us SILENCE. A culmination, meditation and tribute to every Scorsese/De Niro/Pesci collaboration. And yet, Al Pacino towers over all of them with a funny, sad and haunting performance as Jimmy Hoffa.
— Jordan Ruimy (@mrRuimy) September 27, 2019
So, it looks like those of us who suspected that this film could've been a disappointment (I raise my hand in shame) have been proven wrong. And honestly, isn't that what Martin Scorsese does these days? Continuously prove us wrong when we suspect he may have lost a step? Bring this movie on.
Here's the official synopsis for The Irishman:
The Irishman is an epic saga of organized crime in post-war America told through the eyes of World War II veteran Frank Sheeran, a hustler and hitman who worked alongside some of the most notorious figures of the 20th century. Spanning decades, the film chronicles one of the greatest unsolved mysteries in American history, the disappearance of legendary union boss Jimmy Hoffa, and offers a monumental journey through the hidden corridors of organized crime: its inner workings, rivalries and connections to mainstream politics.
The Irishman opens in theaters on November 1, 2019 before arriving on Netflix on November 27, 2019.