djvcbd

I went into watching this movie cold; I knew nothing about the story line. All I knew was it was a mob movie with Marty Scorsese directing along with actors that he's worked with in the past - De Niro, Pesci, Keitel. Throw in Al Pacino and I figured what's not to like? The big payoff for me was that the script was right out of two books that I read a long time ago - "The Quiet Don: The Untold Story of Mafia Kingpin Russell Bufalino" and "I Heard You Paint Houses: Frank 'The Irishman' Sheeran & Closing the Case on Jimmy Hoffa". When you add to this the fact that I grew up 10 miles from Philadelphia and have relatives that live close to the upstate town of Pittston where Bufalino ruled it became a movie I only dreamed would be made.

Given all this, it's obvious that I'm going to be heavily biased in favor of "The Irishman". Be that as it may, I still think - objectively - that it's a really well made Scorsese film. You can read all the pros and cons about it in the other reviews listed here. All I'll say is watch it, it's worth your time.

One of the best buddy films of the New Hollywood era (1967 - 1974) or any era for that matter. The chemistry between Newman and Redford is terrific. Their humor, driven by William Goldman's Academy Award winning script, is sophisticated, witty, and sarcastic. Newman is superb playing Butch, the affable guy you'd want to buy a beer in a bar, while Redford's Sundance Kid was, is, and always will be the ultimate cool character in all of film.

As a side note, I have to say that it makes me laugh when someone refers to this movie as being "dated". A Western, by definition, is dated but if they're referring to the dialog, all I can say is - Are you kidding?? I also find it comical when people complain that there's no real "plot" to the film. Who cares when Newman and Redford are this entertaining??!!

This was an enormously popular film in 1969, an instant classic ... and as we all know, the classics are timeless.