By Roxana Casanueva

SPOILERS AHEAD

Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman, follows the epic story of fading mob glamour. This gangster drama, which very much earned its extended run-time, is both a poignant and funny film that revisits some central themes in Scorsese’s work: depiction of violence, dark humor, and political corruption. 

The film opens with a long shot that takes the audience through the hallways of an elderly home, where the protagonist, Frank Sheeran ruminates, full of pride and regret, about a life not well-lived, about the days when he used to ‘paint houses.’ Spanning six decades, Martin Scorsese, Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, and Joe Pesci, unite for another tale of crime, politics and breathtaking betrayals. 

Set in the 1960’s, Frank Sheeran, portrayed by Robert De Niro, is a World War II veteran working as a truck driver with a side job. When his truck breaks down at a gas station in Pennsylvania, he meets Russell Bufalino (Joe Pesci), who gives him a hand with the engine. Little did Frank know that the short guy would turn out to be a mafia boss that controls Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, and Detroit. That’s when he started ‘painting houses.’ 

The line “I heard you paint houses,” is actually mafia code for “are you a hitman?” Frank was literally painting houses — with blood. After a gunshot to the head, blood splattered onto the walls, therefore ‘painting houses’ was sort of an inside joke for the gangsters. 

As Russell Bufalino introduces Frank to the reckless, and corrupt Union president Jimmy Hoffa, Pesci carries himself with a quiet self-assurance. Pesci’s performance was beyond spectacular and many agree that he deserved an Oscar for this role. Scorsese and his cinematography crew did an exquisite job with the de-aging digital effects to make De Niro, Pesci, and Pacino appear younger. With a runtime of only three hours and thirty minutes and a production budget of $159 million, it’s pretty impressive that The Irishman was the most expensive and — with a three and a half run-time — longest films of Scorsese’s career.

The Irishman, spanning several decades, shows how Frank Sheeran takes a job as a hitman for the Philadelphia mob and becomes great friends with the notorious Teamsters leader Jimmy Hoffa. It shows how naturally crime, political corruption and conspiracy intertwine.

When Al Pacino arrives on the scene as Hoffa, he made Scorsese’s picture debut with a great performance that is loud and subtle, curiously sympathetic and stubborn. The emotional peak in The Irishman was how Frank went from being Jimmy Hoffa’s most trusted associate and friend to his (SPOILER ALERT!) murderer. That was an excellent plot twist. 

But that’s not what the movie is about. At its core, The Irishman is about life — about the choices and consequences that build a life.

Throughout the film, the very quiet Peggy, Sheeran’s daughter, plays a huge role. In fact, she is the only family member that sees right through him. In fact, that is almost all she does: she sees. Although Peggy only has one or two lines throughout the entire film, her silence says far more than that. She sees people. She witnesses.

From the get-go, the audience can easily notice that she is not, at all, a fan of Russell. 

Every encounter Peggy has with Russell, she looks at him suspiciously. However, she trusts Hoffa entirely. Only 28 minutes into the movie, young Peggy witnesses her father drag a grocer out to the sidewalk and beat him mercilessly. Peggy says nothing. This act of violence shows Peggy who her father really is. She appears several times throughout the film, from a distance, watching her father get deeper and deeper into the mob. 

The scene when Frank is packing a bag – and a pistol – to go help Hoffa with the union, Peggy watches him from his bedroom door. This is the last scene we see Peggy as a little girl; the next time we see her she’s all grown up. This jump in time indicates that Frank has missed Peggy’s entire childhood. Anna Paquin does an excellent job portraying adult Peggy. Her silence, and her appalled looks at her father throughout the film, ultimately imply that one of Frank’s biggest regrets was his deteriorating relationship with his daughter.

Some might think that the climax of The Irishman is Jimmy Hoffa’s murder. What if it’s not? What if it is the relationship with his daughter? The distance between them is palpable. Frank’s desire to bridge that gap is visible; but he doesn’t know how to. Perhaps, he understands that he can’t.

Connections: career, friendships, familial — they are part of our story. We crave them.

At the end of his life, Frank is the last man standing. He has all the secrets, and no one to tell them to. He has memories and pictures of a past that no one remembers: mob wars, Jimmy Hoffa’s heyday, the Bay of Pigs. He feels no remorse for what he’s done. But he is completely, utterly, alone.