“The Irishman”–Movie Review

On the opening day of the 57th New York Film Festival, I attended the World Premiere of Martin Scorsese’s “The Irishman”, starring Robert De Niro, Al Pacino and Joe Pesci.

Synopsis

When a mob hitman is tasked with taking out Jimmy Hoffa, can he do the job despite being the man’s close friend?

Story

At this point in his life, the elderly Frank Sheeran (De Niro) must live in a nursing home.  Reminiscing about his remarkable life, this World War II veteran admits that he made a successful career for himself as a hitman for Italian gangsters (despite the fact that Frank himself is Irish).  Following a chance meeting with mobster Russell Bufalino (Pesci), Frank is hired by him to do various unsavory jobs.  Although Frank is able to earn a decent living for his family as a truck driver, he certainly doesn’t mind making some extra money on the side.       

After proving himself to be reliable, Russell gives Frank more and bigger jobs with even greater responsibility.  Eventually, Frank is making more money working for Russell than he is in his truck driving job alone, so life is pretty good.  Or so it seems.  Another major turning point in his career occurs when Russell introduces him to the leader of the Teamsters union, Jimmy Hoffa (Pacino).  Frank is quite familiar with Hoffa – this union leader is a very famous man throughout the United States.  Hoffa wants to hire Frank because, as he put it, “I heard you paint houses” (code for being a professional hitman). 

Russell loans out Frank to Hoffa, who hires him to do some work, taking care of some folks trying to impede Hoffa’s progress.  Over the course of their working relationship, Frank winds up spending a great deal of time with Hoffa and they become close friends.  Hoffa places a great deal of trust in Frank because he feels it’s been earned.  But as famous and successful as Hoffa is, his gruff manner rubs many people the wrong way and he ends up making enemies.  When Hoffa serves time in prison for committing fraud, he loses his spot as Teamsters leader.  Once he is pardoned, he leaves prison thinking he’ll be able to return to his old job.  The only problem with this is that the mob doesn’t want him to have his old job back.  Since Hoffa refuses to fall in line, Russell must have Frank do a hit on him.  But can Frank murder one of his closest friends?      

Review

Stories like these are so deep in Scorsese’s wheelhouse that you feel from the very first moment that the director is so confident and comfortable with it that you immediately surrender yourself to him.  He then goes on to prove that your trust was well-founded because he is such an expert at telling complex, expansive tales.  If you are a Scorsese fan, you will not be disappointed in “The Irishman”, which is a far better title for a movie than the title of the book on which it is based (“I Hear You Paint Houses”).  Scorsese doesn’t look like he’s slowing down at all; instead, if anything, “The Irishman” reinforces that he’s still at the top of his game.

Where the movie may become a bit of a challenge is when it introduces so many characters that at some point it becomes difficult to keep track of who a few of them are or their relationship to Frank.  That minor quibble aside, at no point does “The Irishman” ever turn into a slog (although at three and a half hours, you’ll be forgiven if you start fidgeting in your seat).  With the suspense, action, violence and yes, humor, the story provides constant forward momentum.  This will long be considered one of Scorsese’s many masterpieces in his extensive oeuvre, and deservedly so.  From the opening scene where the camera winds through Frank’s nursing home while a pop music hit from the 1950’s plays in the background until the last shot of him alone in his wheelchair, you feel like you’ve been taken on a long and winding but deeply rewarding journey.

While the film’s protagonist is De Niro’s character (Frank), it is Pacino who steals the show as Hoffa.  He is so over the top, it seems as though Scorsese gave him free rein to chew up the scenery in every scene.  The humor dispersed throughout the movie was welcome.  One running gag is that whenever a character is introduced, a graphic pops up telling you how and when he met his demise.  Much has been mentioned about the CGI process that was used for the aging or “un-aging” process for certain characters.  Yes, you become aware of it early on, but you wind up getting so involved in the story that you eventually overlook it altogether.          

One note about the screening itself:  Most of the cast was present at the start of the movie; they were introduced by Scorsese who said a few words himself.  He also urged De Niro to say something, but the actor was his usual taciturn self.  Anna Paquin appears in “The Irishman” as one of Frank’s daughters (but she doesn’t have many lines).  When she was introduced, she walked onto the stage and appeared to trip over something in her high heels and in so doing, it looked like she might have twisted her ankle because she immediately started limping thereafter.  After the screening, Scorsese, De Niro et al appeared in the balcony and were greeted with a standing ovation.   

“Ad Astra”– Movie Review

This week at Lincoln Center, I attended an advance screening of the new science-fiction drama by James Gray, “Ad Astra”, starring Brad Pitt.

Synopsis

When an astronaut is sent into space to retrieve his long-lost father, can he successfully complete his mission once he learns that his father is considerably less heroic than his legend would have him believe?

Story

Roy McBride (Pitt) has spent his career as an astronaut just like his father before him, Clifford (Jones).  He has tried to live up to the valiant reputation his father left as a legacy. Unfortunately, Roy has not seen his father for decades; sent on a mission 30 years ago, he never returned and hasn’t been heard from in all of that time.  When Roy is sent out to perform routine maintenance on some equipment, there’s a horrible explosion, killing or injuring several of his colleagues. Once Roy recuperates from his own injury, his officers summon him to a secret meeting.  They believe that the electrical storm that occurred may have emanated from space -- specifically, from where Clifford was last located.

The new mission on which Roy is sent is an unusual one:  head to Mars, where the base there can send a secure message to Clifford in order to confirm not only his existence but also the reason for the storm.  However, once Roy gets there and starts trying to communicate with his father, they deem he is too emotionally connected to the project and decide to send him home.  Before he can be returned to earth, he uncovers a secret: Clifford was not the hero he was purported to be. In fact, he may have endangered his team on the mission they were on, known as The Lima Project.

A new plan is formed:  the space agency will send astronauts to Neptune, where The Lima was destined, and neutralize Clifford.  When Roy discovers this, he overpowers the crew and goes on the mission himself -- the difference being that his goal is to return his father to Earth.  After surmounting a number of challenges, Roy finally confronts Clifford on board his ship; Clifford tells Roy the whole story and it is clear that Clifford is in a compromised mental state.  But dedicated to his own job to the point of an unhealthy obsession, Clifford doesn’t want to return to Earth with Roy. Can Roy convince Clifford to come with him or will he have to punish his father for his crimes?     

Review

Sometimes, visually stunning movies don’t have much of a story to go with them; perhaps the filmmakers are hoping that you won’t notice that since you’re being wowed by the special effects.  Fortunately, such is not the case with “Ad Astra”, which may well be one of Brad Pitt’s best performances, if not his best. Good science fiction is more about humanity than it is about science and that’s where “Ad Astra” succeeds.  The human condition, human flaws and human frailties are perhaps the most essential themes of the movie. Social media has lately been buzzing about how this film is either a celebration or an indictment of toxic masculinity. To say that such an assertion is a bit of a stretch may be the understatement of the year.

“Ad Astra”, a Latin term which means “to the stars”, might best be described as “Apocalypse Now” set in outer space:  someone from the military must neutralize a fellow member of the military who has gone rogue -- but must do so without going completely off the rails himself.  It’s got a tinge of a “Star Wars” element to it in the sense that it’s son versus father -- except in this case it’s Roy versus Clifford instead of Luke versus Darth.  While there may be some dispute with respect to the comparisons, there is no disputing how well the story is crafted, although the resolution may be a little sappy. 

If you can surrender yourself to the movie and immerse yourself in its sense of reality -- that is to say, disregard the fact that you’re watching a good deal of CGI -- then it is truly splendid to behold.  While the story is somewhat slow paced, there are plenty of action sequences to prevent you from nodding off. There is a touch of Shakespeare, too, in that Pitt’s character has a number of soliloquies throughout the film -- but there is certainly justification for that.  Roy is trying to resolve certain issues in his own life -- not just the conflict with his father, but also the fact that his marriage suffered due to his dedication to his career.     

NY Film Festival 57 Schedule

My schedule is set for the 57th New York Film Festival and there are some exciting new titles that I’ll see. This year, I’ll be attending more movies than in past years (I’ll practically be living at Lincoln Center for two weeks), so I can’t guarantee that I’ll be able to post a review for all of them, but I do promise that I’ll give it my best effort.  In order, here is what I’m scheduled to see:

1. Opening Night:  The world premiere of Martin Scorsese’s “The Irishman”. 
2. The New York premiere of Pedro Almodóvar’s latest, “Pain And Glory”, starring Antonio Banderas.
3. The U.S. premiere of a gender-blind erotic drama from Spain, “Liberté”.
4. The world premiere of “Bully.  Coward.  Victim”, a documentary about the late Roy Cohn.
5. “Synonyms”, (U.S. premiere) a film about a former Israeli soldier who tries to adapt to a new culture after moving to Paris.
6. The New York premiere of “Portrait of a Lady on Fire” – feminism in 19th century France
7. The North American premiere of “Oh Mercy!”, a murder mystery directed by Arnaud Desplechin. 
8. The New York premiere of “Joker”, which stars Joaquin Phoenix in the title role as Batman’s infamous nemesis. 
9. Centerpiece Selection:  (N.Y. premiere) director Noah Baumbach’s “Marriage Story”, starring Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver.
10. “Sibyl”, a comedy-drama from France about a psychotherapist who gets caught up in the life of one of her patients (U.S. premiere).
11. The U.S. premiere of “Wasp Network”, directed by Olivier Assayas and starring Penélope Cruz, about Cuban refugees in Miami during the 1990’s. 
12. Winner of the Cannes Film Festival’s Palme d’Or, the South Korean “Parasite” by Bong Joon-ho will have its New York premiere. 
13. The New York premiere of the new Romanian crime drama, “The Whistlers”
14. Closing Night:  the New York premiere of Edward Norton’s “Motherless Brooklyn”, starring Norton, Alec Baldwin, Bruce Willis and Willem Dafoe. 

For us cinephiles, this is most certainly a thrilling time of year; it’s kind of like the NFL Championship and baseball’s World Series rolled into one.  While few look forward to the end of summer, many do look forward to the beginning of autumn, since it means the start of The New York Film Festival.  Please keep an eye on this blog during late September to mid-October for updates.  Until then, this trailer should give you an idea of what attendees have to look forward to: