Went to see The Irishman last night. First off, I have read the book "I heard you paint houses" and I was very excited for this film. A word to the wise, don't bring your lady friend to see it... they wont thank you for it. It's slow and it is too long. It's the first time in quite a while that I have seen people get up and leave half way through or even just fall asleep.
Having said all that, I did enjoy it. I enjoyed the acting. I enjoyed seeing these legends back on screen and interacting again in a mobster film. I enjoyed seeing the story I had read come to life. Yes, it is certainly no Goodfellas.
The killing scenes are quick, cold and brutal. Fascinating.
On a side note I thought Stephen Graham was excellent again.
The book is a direct witness and gives account to major headlines of post WW2 American history, the rise of trade unions, the enigmatic Jimmy Hoffa, the Mafia, Cuba, Castro The Bay of Pigs, Bobby Kennedy, JFK/Dallas After the Hoffa hit, the Mafia as it was known was eventually dismembered by the FBI.
The Goodfellas might well be a better film even a classic, but essentially that story is just about three scúmbag gangsters with little significance in the scheme of things outside of the heist and Jimmy's partiality to gruesome murder being the solution for all ailments.
Agreed, i found the film easy to follow because id read the book and it gripped me, after i read the book a few years ago i done some research on Jimmy Hoffa and his 'disappearance' so when the film was announced i was delighted, personally i found it easy to follow and had a good idea what was going on plus i thought the acting was top class. Id say if you didnt have an idea of the background to the film and the story and were just going to see a simple gangster film then it woulda been hard to follow.
