Does The Irishman Live Up To Scorcese’s Goodfellas & Casino? [REVIEW]

I've really been meaning to sit down and watch 'The Irishman' on Netflix since it came out last week. But I got to be honest. There didn't seem to be a good time for me to carve out 3 hours and 29 minutes of my day for it. I finally got the chance on Day 3 of being snowed in from the now famous 2019 Blizzard we had over the weekend.

The Irishman was something very appealing to me, because it starred some of my favorite actors from some of the most iconic movies of my life. Both Al Pacino and Robert De Niro were HUGE in Godfather (Pacino), and Godfather II (both actors). Goodfellas showcased how great of gangsters De Niro and Joe Pesci could play. Casino showed us the iconic pair again, but this time Joe Pesci played even more of an out of control hot head gangster. It was another great film.

So my big fear was, "would this hold up to those classic movies?"

Yes. Yes, this movie can tread water with those classics just fine, and brings a different value to the table.

First off, Joe Pesci is not the Joe Pesci you expect in this movie. He's very calm, very subtle, and is calling the shots. He plays De Niro's character, Frank Sheeran's mentor. Joe Pesci performance shows the depth of a character that he can play. Instead of out whacking guys, you see him as a made man throughout the film as he delegates tasks to those beneath him. I like that character for him. It was refreshing.

Al Pacino plays Jimmy Hoffa. He does it quite well, but to be honest I'm too young to have watched Hoffa on the TV. All I grew up knowing about is that he died, nobody knows where his body was, and there was conspiracy theories and strange stories. But, Pacino put a lot of time into getting this character right, and as always Al takes over the screen when he's in the room.

Robert De Niro shows off his incredible acting chops. I felt like in this movie he conveyed so much emotion physically without words. We often see De Niro as the tough guy, especially in Goodfellas. But in this movie you can see the internal battle of this man and the pain just come through his skin.

Speaking of skin, this de-aging technology was fantastic. There were times when I wasn't sure if it was being used or not. That's how good it is. I think this is really going to change the way movies are made in the future.

I don't want to give away any spoilers in the movie. But I can tell you the last hour of the movie is gut-wrenching but so entertaining. It's a movie that sticks with you and takes a while to digest. It moves you, and it makes you appreciate the actors & Scorcese's years of work.

It's hard for this movie to not feel like a goodbye to our favorite Gangsters. They are all in their 70's, and who knows if we will get a chance to see them in a film like this again. It's doubtful, but one thing is certain, they haven't lost their touch..