The Irishman!

Now that the Walking Bigfoot In Chief has left the country its safe to go outside enjoy yourselves. Just stay off twitter and avoid Senator Goober and his Russian water carrying.

The Irishman. Scorcese's latest and maybe greatest came to Netflix over the weekend but hell I dont watch movies on small screens as I must have the full theater experience in order to grasp what is going on since my attention span at home rivals that of Trump listening to a paragraph in which his name isn't mentioned.

The Irishman IS playing here in flyover country but only at the local art theater, a fantastic old theater called the Dundee saved by the Buffett family and Alexander Payne. Cant wait. Off to the theater to take advantage of my senior membership and pay $5 to get in with student Max for $7.50 and yes I know I just spent the monthly Netflix fee on a movie I cold watch at home. Theres two theaters at the grand old Dundee. The big 1920s screen and the tiny little 20 seat micro theater reserved for those foreign documentaries and movies about old eccentric ladies. And in this case, The Irishman.

Ever sit in a tiny theater in row 1? For 3.5 hours? My neck may recover sometime next week.

The movie itself is brilliant. The massive cast of Scorcese veterans and Al Pacino let the story tell itself. Its about Jimmy Hoffa, its about the Philly mob, its about truth and lies and soured relationships. Its about murder and theft and racketeering. Its about unions and corporate thuggery and politics. And its about growing old.

Narrated by an old nursing home bound Frank Sheeran played by Robert DeNiro, the Irishman who "paints houses", it tells the long story of his life, from World War II, thru the 50s and 60s and into the 70s and 80s. Along the way we meet Russell Bufalino (Joe Pesci) and Angelo Bruno (Harvey Keitel) and eventually Jimmy Hoffa (Al Pacino). Its a gallery of movie gangsters played by the Mount Rushmore of gangster movie actors.

The never ever boring 3 plus hours moves along like a great book. Please watch it.

Its not Casino, its not Goodfellas, its not The Departed. Only non Scorcese fans will utter that nonsense. Its the Irishman. Its a masterpiece in itself.

The de-aging is distracting yes. DeNiro and Pesci de-aged is reminiscent of the greatness of these two. Pacino de=aged does not look like the baby faced Michael Corleone. He's more weathered than that. And Pacino who has been getting Oscar buzz simply by not chewing scenery shows he has a lot left in the tank. His Hoffa is a working mans crusader and a tough guy to boot. Pesci is the calm and collected old mobster who knows it is what it is. Anna Paquin is DeNiros daughter who sees him do so many horrible things she eventually refuses to speak to him. Paquin doesnt speak. At all. The criticism of that is idiocy. Because silence is what it is. And Anna Paquin acts with her face.

But Robert DeNiro is the glue of this movie. He holds it together throughout. He shows again why he may be Americas greatest actor.

You put this bunch together in one movie and you fear its a disaster of competing egos that will be laughed at. Sorry, haters, it is genius. Screw your tiny bladders and short attention spans.But watch it at a distance, unlike me who still needs a neck brace. Totally worth it