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When 2019 was beginning, I was thinking of what a majority of people's most anticipated film would be. If I'm being completely honest, there hasn't been a film this year that has gotten more anticipation than Martin Scorsese's latest The Irishman. As a student of filmmaking, Scorsese has continuously inspired me with his craft and passion for bringing stories to life and when hearing about the excitement he had for making The Irishman, I was amped up to see what he'd bring to this project. While it's not one of my favorites in his catalog, it's an incredible entry, one that's very layered compared to his other work and deserves the title of being an epic Mob fairytale.

Based on Charles Brandt's memoir I Heard You Painted Houses, The Irishman tackles the story of Frank Sheeran (played by Robert De Niro) over the span of six decades. The film has an older Sheeran recounting his days from being a soldier to World War II to when he became a hitman, working alongside the Bufalino crime family. With a recommendation from Russell Bufalino (played by Joe Pesci), Sheeran gets to work alongside labor leader Jimmy Hoffa (played by Al Pacino). There has been long history surrounding how Sheeran was involved with the disappearance of Hoffa and we see a ton of events unfold in the 209-minute runtime that Scorsese creates for The Irishman.

For a film set during a fifty-year period, it makes sense why the story is told within three-and-a-half-hours. The runtime is absolutely insane, as I walked in with slight caution due to it. Scorsese is no stranger to directing films with long runtimes, but I was afraid that this would be a huge stretch and of course, in typical Scorsese fashion, it worked very well for the tone he was trying to capture. It is very rare for his films to have a slow-burn presence and The Irishman, especially, showcases why we still support his work after an over 50-year-long career. Scorsese knows how to keep his audiences engaged and there was never an ounce of boredom from me when viewing this film.

Screenwriter Steven Zaillian, who won an Academy Award for Schindler's List, does something completely unique for the gangster genre here. While The Irishman is filled with the exciting, high-octane moments fans enjoy from a majority of gangster/Mob films, Zaillian manages to focus on the characters more than solely showing off the violence. We see the corruption in the business depicted terrifically here, but the character arcs are fleshed out beautifully in The Irishman. This is an extremely subdued film, both from a directing and writing standpoint. I'm always appreciative of when filmmakers decide to go down a route of making their films' tones fresh from one another and I was in tears of joy with how Scorsese told this story.

I believe that saying the performances in The Irishman are good is a huge understatement, as they are all incredible - even the ones that have the smallest ounce of screen-time. This is the ninth collaboration between De Niro and Scorsese, with their last being 1995's Casino. He adds so much nuance in his portrayal of Sheeran and it's the best work from De Niro since Silver Linings Playbook. Pacino as Hoffa is perfection and it blows my mind that 2019 not only marked the first time he had worked with Quentin Tarantino, but also with Scorsese. My favorite performance comes from Pesci, who happens to be the film's standout. For someone that hasn't acted in nearly a decade, his work as Bufalino is top-notch stuff and I'm looking forward to seeing the buzz he'll be getting this season!

The biggest question surrounding The Irishman was involving the de-aging CGI work that was being incorporated onto the trio of actors. While the CGI took me a while to get immersed into, I thought it was very impressive in the long run. Somehow it didn't distract me from the story and while it was odd, obviously, to see 76-year-old De Niro look over 40 years younger - there has to be a lot of props given to the VFX team behind The Irishman. I do hope one of the nominations it can snag is for Best Visual Effects, since it plays an essential part to the film's story. I remember when it was confirmed that the budget was up to $160 million, solely because of the de-aging work, and it left me terrified. It took me by surprise with how incredible the CGI ended up being and I'm curious to see where the future lies with this form of technology.

I couldn't have been more than satisfied with my viewing of The Irishman. To think that Scorsese is close to 80 years old and is still throwing out quality films is inspiring to me. This is a man who knows what to do and while I'm not sure how this film will win everyone over, due to the runtime and pace - it is an impressive feast for the eyes. Netflix is appearing to have another strong awards season for themselves following last year's Roma and The Ballad of Buster Scruggs. 2019 is shaping up to be a game-changer for the streaming service and I'm very excited to see how The Irishman does when its released on Netflix. If Scorsese hasn't lost his game yet, I don't see it happening anytime sooner.