Aba452
Well-Known Member
I got round to watching the Irishman last week. With a cast including Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci and Harvey Keitel , Martin Scorsese in the director's chair there was a lot to live up to.
One of the main selling points of the film was that using an innovative triple lens system allowed SFX recreations of Pacino, De Niro and Pesci as they aged over a 40 odd year period in this epic crime drama. The effects allowed the 3 actors to be de-aged without motion capture 'gimp suits' that Andy Serkis used in LOTR/Planet of the Apes etc.
The main character is De Niro who works for Pesci's Mob boss and befriends Pacino's corrupt union official Jimmy Hoffa. De Niro gives a very measured performance as the mob enforcer trying to steer Pacino's increasingly unhinged Hoffa. Both guys are superb but for me the real revelation is Pesci as the arch manipulator in a devastatingly controlled performance. Apparently Pesci had to be talked into doing this film and rather has the look of Keitel's older brother. Whatever, he is the standout in this 3h30 film.
All good yes? Not quite I think. It's the de-aging process I don't think its entirely successful. When the 3 leads are supposed to look younger they just look as jowly as the do presently but with darker/more hair. Maybe I'm just being utterly pedantic but ...... I know what these actors looked like when they were younger. Take Pacino - young and baby faced in Godfather 2, rather hirsute in Serpico, lined and bonkers in Scarface older in Godfather 3 and Carlito's Way etc. The recreation of a younger Pacino doesn't hold true. I think its exactly the same for De Niro as we're familiar with again how he's aged on screen. Pesci fares the best for me but maybe because his body of work is less than the other two.
In spite of that quibble the Irishman is still a great film, on a par with other gangster epics. I've not mentioned any other actors as no one else really gets much screen time. The great strength of the film is the power of the characters relationships . See what you think.
One of the main selling points of the film was that using an innovative triple lens system allowed SFX recreations of Pacino, De Niro and Pesci as they aged over a 40 odd year period in this epic crime drama. The effects allowed the 3 actors to be de-aged without motion capture 'gimp suits' that Andy Serkis used in LOTR/Planet of the Apes etc.
The main character is De Niro who works for Pesci's Mob boss and befriends Pacino's corrupt union official Jimmy Hoffa. De Niro gives a very measured performance as the mob enforcer trying to steer Pacino's increasingly unhinged Hoffa. Both guys are superb but for me the real revelation is Pesci as the arch manipulator in a devastatingly controlled performance. Apparently Pesci had to be talked into doing this film and rather has the look of Keitel's older brother. Whatever, he is the standout in this 3h30 film.
All good yes? Not quite I think. It's the de-aging process I don't think its entirely successful. When the 3 leads are supposed to look younger they just look as jowly as the do presently but with darker/more hair. Maybe I'm just being utterly pedantic but ...... I know what these actors looked like when they were younger. Take Pacino - young and baby faced in Godfather 2, rather hirsute in Serpico, lined and bonkers in Scarface older in Godfather 3 and Carlito's Way etc. The recreation of a younger Pacino doesn't hold true. I think its exactly the same for De Niro as we're familiar with again how he's aged on screen. Pesci fares the best for me but maybe because his body of work is less than the other two.
In spite of that quibble the Irishman is still a great film, on a par with other gangster epics. I've not mentioned any other actors as no one else really gets much screen time. The great strength of the film is the power of the characters relationships . See what you think.