Scorcese's "Irishman"

[herr_oberst]

Saw it last night at a theatre preview. (It's gonna be on Netflix later this month)

A really good (albeit really long) movie. I don't know how much of the real story of the demise of Jimmy Hoffa is known, but this feels like someone knew quite a bit about the case. DeNiro and Pesci are great together again. Both of them are probably too old for this ****, but the CGI works to a good enough degree to make it more or less believable. (However, the scene where Pesci's character helps DeNiro's character fix his truck will make anyone with a scintilla of knowledge about cars groan out loud.)
Ray Romano (!) does a fantastic job as the mob lawyer.
The biggest flaw to me is the casting of Al Pacino as Jimmy Hoffa. I wish the director had tried harder to cast this role. I kept thinking of Jack Nicholson in the same role, and I wish that there had been someone else with similar gravitas to make me forget that I was watching a movie instead of Pacino's schtick.

All in all a pretty good addition the the Scorcese legacy. Not his best, and maybe trading on past successes, but the guy still knows how to film a story about mob guys.

[stevej37]

^^^ And Pesci.

[LWJ]

I'm looking forward to this. Could be great.

[herr_oberst]

Originally Posted by Zeke

Do DeNiro and Pacino have some sort of pact where they nominate each other when a new script is available? I mean, is there a pair in modern times that have worked together as many times?

Yeah, I was wondering about that too. The movie is called the Irishman. The Italian playing the Irishman is the least effective aspect of the whole film and it sort of ruins the vibe.

[expatriot98]

Actors should no go political publicly. I won't even consider it. They're only actors.

[svandamme]

Originally Posted by herr_oberst

The biggest flaw to me is the casting of Al Pacino as Jimmy Hoffa. I wish the director had tried harder to cast this role. I kept thinking of Jack Nicholson in the same role,

Jack is 82.. his last movie was in 2010
has anybody seen or heard of him recently?

I don't think he is there to be cast in anything.


But I agree on Pacino, I don't even have to see the movie to know he'll not impress mee.

He had a few good movies, but then never really did anything impressive after those.
Made a lot of movies but very few stand out

The God father saga
Sea of Love
Scarface
Carlito's way
Donnie Brasco

For the most part he always plays his role the same way.
Just look at scent of a woman.. what a turd that was.
And then Devil's advocate...

He sure likes his rant with a booming voice scenes ...
Apparantly it's called the "Pacino Blast"

[herr_oberst]

I guess I didn't do a very good job of making my point.

Nicholson played Hoffa pretty well. Now we have this new movie, about Hoffa, and a legendary director gives the part to a guy who's famous for being a one trick pony.
(Pacino Blast. I like that. Never heard it but it's true.)
I just wish Scorcese would have given the part to someone else, someone who could really round out the cast and the story. Someone like Michael Shannon or maybe get Daniel Day-Lewis out of retirement or who knows who - there's a lot of good actors out there.

You're absolutely right about Jack. His best days are decidedly behind him.

[svandamme]

gotcha... yeah Jack is a true legend.
He's probably getting daily sponge baths by really hot nurses.. bless him.

[stevej37]

Originally Posted by svandamme

gotcha... yeah Jack is a true legend.
He's probably getting daily sponge baths by really hot nurses.. bless him.

Nurse Ratched taking care of him. She's a young 85 yo now!

[sammyg2]

"I know where Jimmy Hoffa is buried, absolutely" says Phillip Moscato, Jr. He also says he knows who killed him: mob hitman Salvatore 'Sally Bugs' Briguglio.

"'Sally Bugs' is the one who pulled the trigger in Detroit."

Phil is the son of Hoffa suspect Phillip "Brother" Moscato, Sr., a Genovese crime family powerhouse in New Jersey who died of liver cancer in 2014 at the age of 79. Phil told Fox Nation in an exclusive interview that not only did his father reveal that his close childhood friend and fellow Genovese mobster "Sally Bugs" shot the iconic labor leader, but that his Dad also told him where the body ended up.

...........


Interest in the Hoffa disappearance has been heightened with the release of the Netflix film "The Irishman," which is based on the claim of Frank "The Irishman" Sheeran, who claimed he killed Hoffa. I met Sheeran in 2001 and he told me that he shot Hoffa in the head with a .22 caliber handgun, in a house in Detroit.

In 2004 I led the Fox News team that found blood on the floor of that house, in a pattern that matched Sheeran's story. The F.B.I. confirmed that 28 drops that we found on the floorboards were human blood, but the bureau was only able to extract DNA from one sample, and determined that it came from "an unidentified male," not from Hoffa. Authorities deemed Sheeran's story "unfounded."

For years I believed Sheeran, but then the new information emerged about what may have happened. As an investigative journalist, I have to follow every new lead, even those that conflict with my previous findings and contradict my conclusions.　

Phil and others say that Seerhan's story is not just unfounded, but an outright fabrication.

"Frank Sheeran is full of s***", " Phil told Fox Nation. "He doesn't know what he's talking about. It doesn't add up. I'm not here to hurt nobody, but I want the real story to be told for the Hoffa family."

A variety of former law enforcement officials who investigated Hoffa's disappearance have also recently come forward to claim that Sheeran's story is false.

Even the Mafia doesn't buy his tale.

"The man that killed Jimmy Hoffa was Sal Briguglio, he was the triggerman," says former Philadelphia Mob Boss Ralph Natale, whose book is "Last Don Standing," details his days running the Mafia in the city of brotherly love in the 1990's.

Natale told Fox Nation that Sheeran "did nothing. His whole life was a lie. He didn't kill him, not in a million years."

Charles Brandt, the author of Sheeran's biography, "I Heard You Paint Houses," that is the basis for the film, and the book's publisher Chip Fleischer stand by Sheeran, who died in 2003. Brandt has denied that Sheeran fabricated his story to sell a book, telling Fox Nation that Sheeran did it. "It is the law of confession, the law of corroboration and it's satisfied over and over again," he said.

Phil hopes his information will help prosecutors find Hoffa's remains, so that the case can be finally put to rest and the Hoffa family can have some solace. Hoffa's son James P. Hoffa is the current president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and his daughter Barbara is a retired judge in St. Louis, Missouri.

https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/eric-shawn-jimmy-hoffa-buried-killed

[Otter74]

The LARB on The Irishman:

https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/martin-scorseses-late-style/

[svandamme]

Pacino actually was pretty decent this time. Pushed his power a few times to far, but no full Blast..
Deniro's acting range has somehow been limited to a stupid grin and questioning eyes. suspect that made it easier for the rejuvination CGI..
Pesci was low key but did well.

Movie could have been a bit shorter, dragged on quite a bit. (bit like that review on lareviewofbooks)
None of the characters are likeable.. It's not like Casino or Goodfellas where you can somehow root for the guy despite being a gangster..

But it's a good movie, just not Scorceses best, not by far.

[LWJ]

Saw it last night with my son.

I'm glad I didn't pay to see it at the theater. It was good, not close to great.

Yes, the truck mechanicing was ridiculous.

Yes, Pacino was pretty flat.

Highlight for me? I thought Joe Pesci had the best performance ever. He broke out of his angry little guy persona that I have seen so many times.

[Instrument 41]

So, is this story close to the truth? How much license as taken in the movie?

[MRM]

The short answer to that question is that the movie is based on a book by a guy who claimed to have killed Hoffa. The movie is pretty close to the book, so in that way it’s accurate. But whether the book was true or just a wild story is impossible to know. There are at least a half dozen conflicting claims for the big events in the book/movie and which one is true has probably been lost to history. I do think that the consensus from people who supposedly have some knowledge is that the version put forth in the book and movie makes a great story but is one of the least credible accounts.

I was in elementary school when it happened so I have an alibi.

[stevej37]

On-going search! I wonder who pays for these?

[sc_rufctr]

It was enjoyable and it was good to see Joe Pesci acting again. It was long but the time flew by.
I thought all three of them did a decent job.

But I wonder how close to reality the whole thing was. We'll never know for sure but I'm guessing big chunks of this movie are very close to what actually happened.

Hoffa's death felt like BS. All that driving around and fussing about seemed a bit over the top. You'd think they'd keep something like that really simple so not much could go wrong.

[Bob Kontak]

Originally Posted by sc_rufctr

It was enjoyable and it was good to see Joe Pesci acting again. It was long but the time flew by.
I thought all three of them did a decent job.

Watched today. Agree. It was well paced but last half hour (of 3 1/2 hours) I was just a little cross-eyed.

There were some sweet hit scenes.

Todd from Breaking Bad sneaked in there and I swear one guy looked like Burt Lancaster.

[sugarwood]

[sc_rufctr]

- 1994