The Irishman
released 2019
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“The Irishman” is an American, historical, gangster, mystery film based on the book “I Heard You Painted Houses” written by Charles Brandt. The screenplay was written by Steven Zaillian and it was directed by Martin Scorsese. It was produced by Troy Allen, Richard Baratta, Gerald Chamales, Robert De Niro, Randall Emmett, George Furla, Niels Juul, Gaston Pavlovich, Jane Rosenthal, Martin Scorsese, Jai Stefan, Emma Tillinger Koskoff, Chad A. Verdi, David Webb, Berry Welsh, Irwin Winkler and Tyler Zacharia. It stars a humungus cast which includes Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Joe Pesci, Ray Romano, Bobby Cannavale, Anna Paquin, Stephen Graham, Stephanie Kurtzuba, Jack Huston, Kathrine Narducci, Jesse Plemons, Bo Dietl, Sebastian Maniscalco and many others.

The Irishman IMDb webpage

“The Irishman” is set in 1950s America in the world of the teamsters, organized crime and the swirling cloud of activity around history´s most famous union leader James Riddle Hoffa, played by Al Pacino. The main character of the film is an Irish American hitman for the mob named Frank Sheeran, played by Robert De Niro. Now, Frank is very good friends with and very loyal to a top ranking gangster by the name of Russell Bufalino, played by Joe Pesci. Russell tells Frank to be Jimmy Hoffa´s bodyguard and it this relationship that reveals the man that was Jimmy Hoffa. The big reveal of this film is that it claims to explain what happened to Jimmy Hoffa. How he was killed? who was involved in his murder and why he was killed? That has remained a big question for historians and the general public alike.

It is important to note that several prominent gangsters, and I won´t mention names but you can find them online, claim that this movie and the book it was based on are not the truth. Either way, I think that this might be a rough approximation of events. I think, basically, that Hoffa angered powerful and dangerous people and he was also wrestling for control of The Teamster´s Union and that is what got him killed.

“The Irishman” is another one of Martin Scorsese´s good gangster films that also gives its audience a look inside the life and murder of Jimmy Hoffa. Truth be told, everyone suspected mob involvement in Hoffa´s murder but always wondered about the details like the who, why, when and where? Well, this movie claims to answer those questions and that is its biggest draw.

I liked this movie because it was more a type of murder mystery than a backstabbing, double crossing gangster flick. The characters seemed a lot more level headed than your traditional gangster in films but definitely not any less dangerous. The scene where the gangster Joseph `Crazy Joe´Gallo, played by Sebastian Maniscalco, offends Rusell and is summarily killed for it reminds us right away the type of people we are dealing with.

This story has all the right elements to a good gangster film like the greed, ambition, hubris and betrayal of the characters. It really is the story of a man who built up something that became a defining political force in America, and how that life´s labor of his was ultimately taken from him along with his life. So, many good gangster films portray the character who puts their own life in danger because they clash with their peers. It is as if the gangster forgot the kind of people they surrounded themselves with. Hoffa was defiant to the end and his end came abruptly.

Check out “The Irishman” folks. It´s a good watch.

John

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