The Irishman

It is difficult to consider The Irishman on its own merits; while some may suggest that the film represents a culmination of the director, Martin Scorsese's career, I found it to be a moderately good film, and  unnecessarily long.  Please note that I am not complaining about the length of the film, I am simply suggesting that this could have been a great film if Scorsese would have trimmed the superfluous elements.  I have considered the possibility that Scorsese intentionally crafted the film with an extended runtime to convey the sense of weariness experienced by the main character.  If Scorsese's intent was to bore me, he was triumphant.  Unfortunately I believe that even the greatest directors suffer from their own success; whatever drove them to strive for perfection has been replaced with the belief that they can do no wrong.  Examples of this can be seen in anything from Wes Anderson post The Royal Tenenbaums, Quentin Tarantino post Pulp Fiction, and George Lucas post A New Hope.  That's not to say that Scorsese and these other great directors don't continue to demonstrate greatness after achieving success, it's just that their subsequent work is muddied with self-indulgence.

Jude and I watched Goodfellas just a few days before going to see The Irishman, and it's impressive how the former film epitomizes Scorsese's ability to weave a cautionary tale into a virtuoso visual experience that would have been an exploitation flick in the hands of a lesser director.  Only a complete moron could walk away from seeing Goodfellas with aspirations of becoming a gangster.  Where Goodfellas dispels the glamorous portrayal of gangsters in popular culture, The Irishman is interested in the effects that one man's life of crime has on his soul.  This is a lofty theme for Scorsese to tackle, yet when measured against cinematic standards that he established in previous films, the result is not as satisfying.  We're shown one example after another of the main character (played by Robert De Niro) committing horrible crimes that end up hurting his family and friends.  Scorsese is interested in exploring how this behavior changes the man over the course of his life, and whether he has regrets as the end draws near.  I can admit that my disappointment in the answers to these questions may be a sign that Scorsese was successful in conveying his message.  Alright, maybe this was a great film.