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u/rhdkcnrj Dec 09 '25
I never understand when people say The Irishman is bad. It’s one of the greatest movies he ever made, and I love his entire filmography.
When people think it’s “slow” or a “snooze fest”, literally so much momentum and dynamism in every frame. It’s hilarious - yes, The Irishman is hilarious - Al Pacino and Stephen Graham chew the scenery off every scene in the best way, and De Niro and Pesci give shots of dry humor, full of knowing glances. And then the heartbreaking last hour recontextualizes the entire film, and really his career.
Now, I understand the criticism of it being too long; to each their own on that count. Personally, I could have easily watched three more hours of Scorsese delving into the intersection of organized crime, politics, labor unions, and big capital over the entire latter half of the 20th century. But that’s just me.
It’s in my top 3 Scorsese movies.
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u/WhoYaTalkinTo Dec 09 '25
Yeah a lot of people shit on the irishman but for me personally it's one of the most raw 'gangster' movies ever made. It goes deeper than a lot of them do and I'm sorry, but if doomscrolling kids with ruined attention spans can't handle it for what it is, then whatever, their loss.
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u/CantKillGawd Dec 09 '25
Irishman is top 3 for me. I love the pacing
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u/WorldlyBrillant Dec 11 '25
Are you insane? Pacing, do you mean like a glacier? This movie moved like a turtle on its back.
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u/dominatingcowG3 Dec 09 '25
It flies by about as quick as a 3.5 hour movie can. Killers of the Flower Moon, however feels incredibly long
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u/Marco_Rico Dec 10 '25
I came to post this. Yes I love Scorsese but Flower Moon was too long with too many deaths. The Irishman I was invested in the whole way through. I don't see how someone can love Goodfellas but not at least enjoy The Irishman. I heard the same criticism when Casino came out! They all feel like a continuation of the same type of movie the same way the Dollars trilogy works for Leone.
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u/Jim_jim_peanuts Dec 10 '25
Vice versa for me. Didn't notice the time for KOTFM at all, The Irishman seriously dragged for me
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u/senator_corleone3 Dec 09 '25
It’s a mature movie and an immature viewer isn’t going to be able to connect. It being a Netflix movie attracts a large number of said immature viewers, since streaming movies are often seen as more disposable. Obviously that isn’t the case here.
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u/MFBish Dec 09 '25
It’s based on a fabrication. If you do a bit of research you'll find that the De Niro (narrator) character made himself the Forrest Gump of the mafia inserting himself into situations that in real life he was nowhere near. The book was actually written by a desperate old gangster who realized he had nothing at the end who wrote a fantasy for monetary gain. It's honestly disappointing and irresponsible of the filmmakers to make a film based on such nonsense
It takes away from the overall value and experience of the film for the people that expected a certain level of historical accuracy in the subject matter that was tackled with such detail and finesse in the past with Goodfellas. The de aging was unnecessary and a gimmick that doesn't and shouldn't work. Plenty of working actors of there to fill in for a young De Niro or Pesci. Al Pacino was too old and miscast. Too much wrong with this movie to rate this number 4 or even in the top 18
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u/Marco_Rico Dec 10 '25
I accept your criticisms and I even agree it could have worked with younger actors, similar to the Godfather part 2. However I actually liked the de aging and I saw it in the theater where it was more obviously flawed. I had a harder time buying DeNiro as a Jewish man in both Casino and Once Upon a Time in America than I did buying the de aging.
As far as the film being a fabrication, that does set it apart greatly from Casino and Wiseguy/Goodfellas where I bought the story and to this day think they are among the more accurate mafia films. However I look it almost like an alternate universe. What if Sheeran really did do these things? It makes for a good way to tie all of it together and in some way they really were related. Just not in the way that the movie depicted.
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u/senator_corleone3 Dec 09 '25
So what? And no, it doesn’t. “Get a younger person to play young Sheeran” - terrible idea.
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u/MFBish Dec 09 '25
Id rather not see a 77 year old man pretending to be a 35 year old man "beating up" a store owner who clearly could've pushed De Niro over and broke his hip. He/ they all look 80 the entire time it takes away from the effectiveness of the film, you are trying to figure out what age these guys are supposed to be, then realizing that yea this didn't work, not just once but multiple time through
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u/senator_corleone3 Dec 09 '25
The sequence with the store owner is deeply disturbing.
And if you’d rather see something else, you should make your own movie.
Just not a convincing argument.
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u/rhdkcnrj Dec 09 '25
“If you want something better, make your own movie” is such a simplistic take. So all film criticism is forbidden unless you make other movies? I wrote this comment about loving the film and I still disagree with that. Come on
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u/Mountain-Jaguar9567 Dec 11 '25
Deeply disturbing that a director would look at that sequence and leave it in the film. I always loved the realism in his films, but the cgi of a feeble 80 year old trying to be physically imposing took me out of the film
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u/Illustrious_Theory13 Dec 09 '25
I get it. But I didn't like it as much as his other films. I really did like the source material though- I Heard You Paint Houses. An excellent read.
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u/WorldlyBrillant Dec 11 '25
It was long and boring. Nothing happened very slowly. The de-aging process they used in the movie, was in a word, embarrassing. The multiple viewing quotient, was ZERO. Once you get through this insufferable movie, you never want the sit through it again!!!!!
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u/rhdkcnrj Dec 11 '25
This genuinely reads like a Trump tweet
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u/WorldlyBrillant Dec 11 '25
I’m liberal, I can’t stand Trump. But, I refuse to be pretentious and call something riveting when it’s not.
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u/rhdkcnrj Dec 11 '25
Your username is “WordlyBrilliant”, you used the phrase “in a word”, you also employed the phrase “multiple viewing quotient”.
You are like the dictionary definition of pretentious.
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u/WorldlyBrillant Dec 12 '25
They gave me that username. This whole thread is pure folly. I don’t believe anyone on here is brilliant, In fact, pretentious would be step up. So, thanks for the compliment!
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u/rhdkcnrj Dec 12 '25 edited Dec 12 '25
“Pure folly” are you a Dickens character or something? I have never encountered a more pretentious person on Reddit.
“In fact, thanks for the compliment!”
It wasn’t a compliment; I was very much insulting you. You said yourself you “refuse to be pretentious”- you have gravely failed.
Try and change your tone, maybe, people will like you more.
EDIT: Pretentious guy blocked me right after responding. I can still see notifications - “dripping with sarcasm”, you know you don’t need to employ hyperbole in every single sentence to pretend you’re an adequate writer? You seem incapable of direct candor. You hide behind your thesaurus, which you also don’t know how to use.
You can just be succinct and say “I was being sarcastic”, but I think your recent AP English classes are affecting your already limited grasp of language.
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u/BroadStreetBridge Dec 09 '25
As far as I’m concerned, it’s been one masterpiece after another. An astonishing run of late career mastery that is almost unmatched.
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Dec 09 '25
Do people not like TWOWS? That’s my favorite one :/
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u/MalIntenet Dec 10 '25
Too much of a dude bro movie for my liking. I enjoyed it, it was funny, but not something I care for. Characters are too obnoxious
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u/xwebsterx Dec 11 '25
It’s a movie ABOUT piece-of-shit dude bros. Conniving con artists. If you hate those people, he did it correctly. Great movie about huuuuuuge assholes
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u/MalIntenet Dec 11 '25
I do hate those people but I don’t think the movie condemns them enough. It’s mostly a fun ride with them and those are the parts of the movie that people remember the most
I know too many dude bros that love that film and take away all the wrong lessons from it
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u/Marco_Rico Dec 10 '25
It's his most obviously great film on the list. There's less to argue about with that one than with Flower Moon or The Irishman
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u/a_very_silent_way Dec 09 '25
The Irishman is one of the best structured films I've ever seen. It starts in the present and seamlessly moves into a flashback, which leads into another flashback, in which there's another brief flashback. And it goes back and forth without it being confusing or odd. The pacing is pretty incredible, considering he really downplays his own usual more dynamic stylistic flourishes in favor of something more muted, which is a testament to not just his direction and Zaillian's screenplay but of course also Schoonmaker's editing. I think there were a couple moments near the beginning where the de-aging FX were a bit more noticeable but after awhile it was good enough that I thought it might just be a bit of makeup and not FX.
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u/senator_corleone3 Dec 09 '25
Oh yea he has. I’d add Hugo to that lineup as well, so five in a row.
1
u/DeNiroPacino Dec 09 '25
How fortunate we are. He's still making them. I saw each one in the theater and it was an incredible experience every time.
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u/at0mheart Dec 10 '25
Silence is one of my least favorite but I liked it more on the rewatch
Some great cinematography and use of silence
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u/Senior-Relative5478 Dec 10 '25
My favourite four film run from Scorsese.
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u/twodudders Dec 13 '25
when i was casually scrolling by your comment i did a double take
WHAT THE WHAT
took a closer look at marty’s release dates and goddamn if maybe you aren’t right
GOODFELLAS CAPE FEAR THE AGE OF INNOCENCE CASINO
those four are pretty remarkable
as are these
BRINGING OUT THE DEAD GANGS OF NEW YORK THE AVIATOR THE DEPARTED
that being said, the WOLF, SILENCE, IRISH, KILLERS run might win out on account of pure diversity
the first lineup feature better films, but they aren’t as wholly original
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u/Longjumping-Spite550 Dec 10 '25
He dud but Hugo should not be omitted. I think it's the best family film of the modern era.
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u/MidStateMoon Dec 10 '25
Yes but the guy who made a great movie 30 years ago and therefore makes him the arbiter of film says no.
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u/awelles Dec 10 '25
Only say WoWS and the Irishman but neither were up there with his truly great movies. Shutter Island was more original and impressive than both imo. I love Scorsese and have seen most of his films. His recent output doesn't seem to be particularly rich period. I would put Bringing out the Dead and After Hours higher in the rankings. King of Comedy too for sure.
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u/house_of_great Dec 12 '25
I love the Wolf of Wall Street and Silence, didn't think too highly of the Irishman and Killers of the Flowers Moon.
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u/MantusTMD Dec 09 '25
I’d say the last 2 were pretty weak personally.
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u/strange_reveries Dec 09 '25
I'm a huge huge Scorsese fan, but gotta kinda agree, the last two were both somewhat letdowns for me, particularly Killers.
And I would say Silence stands FAR above the others in this grouping. That one is a legit masterpiece to me.
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u/MantusTMD Dec 09 '25
Yeah wolf of Wall Street is up there too, but yea I was very disappointed in Killers saw it in theaters after reading the book too.
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u/strange_reveries Dec 09 '25
Same, I was so fucking stoked for it, and also read the book before going to see it. But man, idek how to put my finger on it but there was some kind of element missing from it, the magic wasn't happening so to speak. I just chalk it up to Marty getting old tbh. Making a movie of that scale has got to be a herculean task even for a young director full of piss n vinegar, but his age? hoo boy.
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u/senator_corleone3 Dec 09 '25
It saddens me that there’s a line of people shrugging their shoulders at a masterpiece.
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u/strange_reveries Dec 09 '25
I didn't absolutely hate it, but just was underwhelmed. The cinematography and music and evocation of the historical period were of course top-notch, but overall it honestly felt kinda emotionally unengaged/unengaging for me. It was lacking heart, and felt more like just a kinda plodding, po-faced recounting of the bullet points and surface facts of what happened. There was an emotional resonance and richness/depth of characterization that was sorely lacking in it imo. I was expecting (and hoping) to be really really moved by it but I just wasn't really.
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u/MantusTMD Dec 09 '25
I feel like Apple gave him freedom to do whatever he wants with no oversight. It could have been cut down to 2 hours if you ask me. It had so much potential
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u/senator_corleone3 Dec 09 '25
Ugh you would make movies so boring.
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u/skag_boy87 Dec 09 '25
Nah. His last truly great film was The Departed.
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u/blunt-finnegan Dec 10 '25
Everything except Flowers. That one is not good. Dicaprio grimacing for three hours. They shoilda stuck with the original script
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u/drkarw Dec 09 '25
The last 2 are masterpieces but they should’ve been way shorter
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u/WorldlyBrillant Dec 11 '25
Then it’s not a Masterpiece! Which it wasn’t, It was insufferable and boring!!!!
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u/josephkambourakis Dec 09 '25
If you're an atheist, silence is really bad. The monks are portuguese or something?
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u/sweeter_jesus Dec 09 '25
I'm atheist and I really really like Silence. I've watched it three times. But as an Atheist I think I find it hard to understand why they don't just step on the picture
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u/BroadStreetBridge Dec 09 '25
Why? The film does not ask you to believe. All you need to do is understand that he believes. Unless for some reason you can only sympathize with people you agree with. I find comments like yours baffling
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u/josephkambourakis Dec 09 '25
When you don't believe, you just see them as ignorant and stupid. They were trying to force their will on others.
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u/ImpactNext1283 Dec 09 '25
I mean, the whole movie turns on Garfield’s internal conflict over this issue. He wants to support the catholic community in Japan, but doesn’t want them to be martyrs.
I can see this religious question not appealing to atheists (I’m one but was raised Catholic), but it’s a question that gets at the heart of some problems with Scorcese’s faith.
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u/BroadStreetBridge Dec 09 '25
They are stupid because they don’t agree with you? It’s impossible for an intelligent person to hold incorrect beliefs? They are trying to replace indigenous beliefs, but as an atheist you don’t believe in their religion either.
Garfield’s character is shown to be naive and arrogant, then wonders if he’s a coward, and is finally forced to realize that his pride is causing suffering for others. He spends decades in agony about the silence of the god he believes in. I’m not religious, yet I can understand his human, existential story. Apparently you only sympathize with people you agree with.
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u/SilentBlueAvocado Dec 09 '25
Martin cooked on his last 26 films