The first time World War II veteran turned meat truck driver Frank Sheeran (Robert De Niro) and mobster Russell Bufalino (Joe Pesci) meet, circa late 1950s, is by pure chance after Frank's truck has broken down, but they take an instant liking into one another - and eventually, Russell asks Frank for a few "favours" on the side, for a generous fee of course, Frank is happy to "help out" - something that eventually lands him in court, but Russell pays for Frank's lawyer - his own nephew Bill (Ray Romano) - and Frank gets out scot-free. This pleases Frank, naturally, and his behaviour also impressed Russell, and he didn't squeal once, even if it would have made things much easier for him. So Russell hires Frank for bigger jobs, and it's not long before Frank, a trained soldier from the war, becomes one of Russell's hitmen. And thanks to his loyality and his honesty (paired with his lack of ambition to rise to his level in the ranks), Frank soon becomes Russell's favourite and personal friend. Around that time, Jimmy Hoffa (Al Pacino), president of the trucker union, starts to make a stir - and becomes incredibly successful thanks to his mob contacts and mob tactics. But Hoffa makes enemies, so Russell sends over Frank to serve as Hoffa's protection. Again, Frank does a fabulous job and becomes Hoffa's closest friend and confidant. Everything goes fine for a while, until John F. Kennedy is elected president - with mob support mind you, as they figure him one of theirs who will reclaim Cuba from Castro and unfreeze their assets there (something that of course doesn't happen). Only Hoffa smells doom with Kennedy's election, as he appoints his brother Robert (Jack Huston) attorney general, and Robert makes it his mission to get Hoffa behind bars for his illegal dealings with the mob - and he succeeds, too. What's worse is, while he's in jail, his deputy Fitz (Gary Basaraba) takes over the union and wants to freeze Hoffa out for good. And Hoffa has a fall out with the one guy to help him back to power once out of prison, Tony Pro (Stephen Graham).

Hoffa's time in jail doesn't stretch that long, and yet when he's out he doesn't really fit in with the "new world" anymore, and all he cares about is to get "his" union back. Sure, Frank is still his trusted friend and still stands by his side, and Russell at least claims he still has his back, but there are those who just want Hoffa out of the way, most of all Fat Tony Salerno (Domenick Lobardozzi) and of course Tony Pro. Frank tries his best to keep Hoffa in line, and Russell tries his best to keep peace, but ultimately, it becomes clear that Hoffa has to be executed. And during a seemingly innocent trip to a wedding with Russell and their wives (Stephanie Kurtzuba, Kathrine Narducci), Frank has to realise that Russell has chosen him to do the deed, with the wedding being a mere cover-up to give him an alibi ...

Now if one chooses to be mean, one could say that The Irishman is merely a rehash of Martin Scorsese's earlier Goodfellas and Casino, and one wouldn't be completely wrong, and not only for the involvement of Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci in both of these movies. At the same time, this assessment would also fall short on conveying how good a movie The Irishman actually is: Once again, Martin Scorsese shows that his mastery to tell epic (in this case decades-spanning) stories as stringent tales that are told in such a lively way they seem out of breath is second to none, his approach to nostalgia almost completely lacks the patina and melancholy usually associated with it, He's great at changing perspective and still staying close to his characters, and his directorial style is unmistakably his own without ever overpowering the story he tries to tell. And that he has one of the best casts ever at his hands of course helps a lot as well, and their CGI-de-aging doesn't hurt the film one bit.

Pretty much a must-see!

review © by Mike Haberfelner

 

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