The Irishman

The Irishman was great though unnecessary. What does it contribute in 200 minutes of outrageous star power that you can't find in two well-selected mob movies made decades ago? With its runtime and lineup of legends one would expect a kingly film capping a kingly career. But it strikes me as just another Scorsese film, with a good story and exciting actors. Unfortunately the acting is all subscripted by the movie's real theme -- legends being legends -- but that didn't stop me from enjoying Pacino especially. I haven't actually seen him in much, but I do like Michael Corleone, and his Hoffa charisma was thrilling. The other leads were probably deliberately muted. I have a feeling any of them could have played an intoxicating Hoffa, but did they have to play their own parts so uncharismatically? De Niro is just a brick. Even as young Vito Corleone he's all business with a face of furrowed stone. Is it possible for him to be really likable? Pesci is similarly cold, although it's not his job to buoy the film. De Niro reeks of cold death all along, which as protagonist doesn't bode well for the film's vitality. I don't mean De Niro failed -- actually I was impressed how well he got along, acting for real, even ambling about as a faux-forty-something. Did they de-age his entire body? I didn't mind the performance, despite his personality vacuum and the fact that it doesn't really make sense to cast De Niro as anything up-and-coming, unless ironically, like a comedy in which he discovers in his 80s he's actually a talented ballet dancer, or his real life, in which he's a new father, again. Most of the film required de-aging, which I'm sure is technically harder and more distracting to the viewer than aging, so a lot of the geriatric casting doesn't make sense if you throw out what I said was the movie's real theme. Why are we watching a bunch of old dudes trying to be young dudes? There are plenty of younger options. I appreciate their place in cinema, and I'm happy to watch them act still, but for the movie's sake, it doesn't really make sense to me. I similarly respect Louis' and Dave's veteran view on comedy, but wouldn't cast them de-aged as teens trying to get laid in the next Superbad. I'd watch it, but I wouldn't cast it.

Edit: this from Wikipedia:

Scorsese added that there is a meta aspect to seeing Pacino and De Niro interact in The Irishman, saying, "What you see in the film is their relationship as actors, as friends, over the past 40, 45 years."

Right? Exactly. The whole project is meta, cinematic, i.e. not quite authentic. And it lacks the personality of The Godfather or The Departed. It's a sober tale of killing and dying, underscored by the unfortunate fact that the director and actors are all close to dying themselves.