As every other Scorsese mob movie, “The Irishman” deals in excruciating detail with the inner workings of its core subject. There are countless particulars related to Frank’s profession such as choosing the right weapon for each particular job or a step by step tutorial on how to whack a rival who gets out of line. There are also the small, unrelated wisdoms that Scorsese loves to share (think of the unforgettable method for making garlic liquefy in “Goodfellas”) and they go a long way to make his films more memorable, like the best chili dog in America or how to consume alcohol in front of someone who doesn’t allow people to drink around him. Also fascinating are the insights on how mob leaders actually give the go ahead of a murder with just the subtlest of eyebrow moves, the way rivals “send a message” at each other or the use of the most unassuming phrases that in their context become unmistakable threats (think “it is what it is,” “it’s the bottom line,” or “he won’t need it”, the latter in regard to an advance on a job that won’t require completion and won’t require a refund either).
“The Irishman” can be described as the “Forrest Gump” of mob movies. Throughout his life and career Frank somehow found himself in the middle of the most renowned moments in US mob history. From their involvement in getting Hoffa’s teamster pensions to finance the building of Las Vegas, to allegedly getting President Kennedy elected with the help of some deceased volunteers, to trying to overturn Cuba’s Castro, and later by assassinating the same “ungrateful” president they got elected in the first place (as suggested when Russ states that “if they can whack a president, they can whack the president of an union”). “The Irishman” deals with several subjects that other films have already dedicated their entirety to portray, including “Casino” (1995), “Hoffa” (1992), “JFK” (1991), and even a bit of “All the President’s Men” (1976), and it conveys some of their themes with as much insight as any of the others.
When it comes to Scorsese’s filmography, at first sight “The Irishman” resembles “Goodfellas” and “Casino.” To be fair, most of Scorsese’s mob features share a similar style and the use of the same color palettes with similar ultra-green lawns and lots of browns and burgundies. They all include countless moments of tension between the characters where the threat of violence is imminent. Their mob bosses don’t live in fortresses like the Sopranos or in compounds like the Corleones and they hang around in simple outdoor malls and stay at modest Howard Johnson’s hotels. In other words, Scorsese clearly avoids glamorizing their lives. “The Irishman” has a very similar feel to “Goodfellas” in particular to the point where it is almost as if both entries belong to the same “universe.” When we see Joe Pesci’s Russ Bufalino attending the Copacabana club, it’s hard not to imagine him running into Joe Pesci’s Tommy DeVito from the latter movie. Even the most notable murder sequences in both features (Tommy DeVito and Hoffa’s) are eerily similar.
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7s7vGnqmempWnwW%2BvzqZmn5miYrOtwc2gZJynoqeytLzOp5uepqSofKJ5y6impGWSlrCsecCtZKaZoqm2r3nSnKarq5WosrR506GcZqGinsCpucCn