To pre-blockbuster cinema
ruling Kennedy family), and his enemies are increasing by the day, prompting Frank to face increasingly divided loyalties, as Russell and company urge him to rein in Hoffa’s grandstanding ways.
Fans of Scorsese’s previous gangster epics, Mean Streets, Goodfellas and Casino, will lap up the sights, sounds, temptinglooking dishes, salty language and crazy nicknames that infuse The Irishman.
The initial double-flashback narrative takes a while to get used to, but Steven Zaillian’s (American Gangster, Gangs of New York) script is peppered with shocks, filled with memorable moments and features some fabulous dialogue.
‘‘Charge a gun, with a knife you run,’’ explains Hoffa, while also reminding his stepson that you should never put a fish in your car and that everyone in the Mafia seems to be called Tony.
If De Niro, delivering his best performance in more than a decade, is the heart and soul of The Irishman, then Pacino is the undoubted scene-stealer.
His Hoffa is a compelling presence, an unashamed pain in the ass and a hoot.
And we finally get to see the pair truly spark after the promise of 1995’s Heat and the desperate disappointment of 2008’s Righteous Kill.
Naturally, Scorsese has also managed to corral an amazing supporting cast, that not only includes the welcome return of the creepily charismatic Pesci, but also Bobby Cannavale, Anna Paquin, Stephen Graham and Jesse Plemons.
Three others behind the scenes are also key to the success of The Irishman. Scorsese’s longtime editing collaborator Thelma Schoonmaker provides another masterclass in how to create tension and perfect pacing, Robbie Robertson curates a fabulous soundtrack of classic period cuts and Industrial Light and Magic has somehow managed to make ‘‘de-ageing’’ look less ‘‘uncanny valley’’ and more uncanny likenesses.
It perhaps falls short of being a classic and it’s not to everyone’s taste (there are some unhappy at its version of the events relating to Hoffa), but there’s no doubting that The Irishman feels like a welcome throwback to pre-blockbuster event cinema of the 1970s, when the focus was on compelling characters and stories, rather than explosions and superheroes.
The Irishman is streaming on Netflix.
The third season of the Emmyand Golden Globe-winning comedy series continues the adventures of housewife-turnedstand-up-comic Midge Maisel (Rachel Brosnahan).
This time around, she’s about to embark on a six-month tour, opening for a musician.
Joining the regulars are Sterling K Brown (This is Us) and The Princess Bride’s Cary Elwes.
Professor Brian Cox explores the dramatic lives of the eight majestic planets/worlds that make up our solar system in this five-part BBC series.
‘‘The wonder of Cox’s arguments, which take in the staggering, incomprehensible vastness of time and space, provides the kind of television
Desperate Housewives creator Marc Cherry’s latest 10-part domestic drama focuses on three women in different time periods who discover their husbands are cheating on them. Ginnifer Goodwin, Lucy Liu and Kirby Howell-baptiste star. ‘‘Cherry knows how to make social commentary while making us laugh and take a discerning eye to our lives,’’ wrote Paste magazine’s Amy Amatangelo.
Mission: Impossible, The Man From Uncle and Man of Steel star Henry Cavill makes the leap to TV with this eight-part fantasy drama based on the book series (and video game) of the same name by Andrzej Sapkowski. The former Superman plays Geralt of Rivia, a monster hunter who struggles to find his place in a world where people are more wicked than beasts.