The Irishman (2019)

Kohn calls it Scorsese’s best crime movie since Goodfellas and a pure illustration of his distinctive voice. It is praised as an ambitious epic that captures the filmmaker’s strengths over nearly 50 years.

The Irishman is unmistakably a Scorsese picture but colder and more distant than predecessors, with themes of ageing, guilt and death. It is his summation and twilight masterpiece.

Scorsese delivers a mature, compelling meditation on time, ageing, connections and guilt that goes beyond a standard gangster film. It ends as a powerful, painful study of regret in a man who has lost his ability to feel.

Scorsese returns to the gangster genre in fine form with sharp pacing across an epic runtime, strong ensemble performances and playful nods to his past work. The film is seen as entertaining but not quite reaching classic status, with limited genuine soul-searching.

Scorsese and his stars have made a rich, complex and moving gangster epic that belongs alongside The Godfather and Goodfellas. It is as much about friendship, loyalty and the passing of time as it is a crime thriller.

The review commends the film's strongest quieter passages on self-reproach and the dying of the light, along with terrific work from De Niro, Pesci and an unleashed Pacino. It criticises the overstuffed tangents and uneven digital de-ageing effects.

The film is a revelation and an intoxicating triumph that uses Scorsese's mastery to surprising ends. It has more in common with 'The Age of Innocence' than his other gangster films, with standout performances across the board.

The critic views the film as a nostalgic farewell to Scorsese's organised-crime pictures, highlighting the shift into a mournful reflection on friendship, betrayal and unassuaged guilt. Pesci's quiet performance and the opaque acting in the central murder sequence are singled out for praise.

Scorsese returns with his best picture since GoodFellas, a superbly acted epic mob procedural about violence, betrayal and emotional bankruptcy. The critic singles out the wintry brilliance of the lead performances, especially Joe Pesci as the quietly spoken mob fixer Russell Bufalino.

The film is a melancholy, rueful gangster saga anchored by strong performances from De Niro, Pacino, and Pesci. Rooney praises its beautifully crafted deluxe cinema, sinuous tracking shots, and period detail, while noting the self-indulgent length and lack of propulsive energy compared to earlier Scorsese mob films.

Scorsese delivers a stately, ominous mob epic that reckons with the dark heart of power and the toll of criminal life. The film stands out for its hushed precision and echoes of the director's earlier works while charting new territory.

The review describes it as one of Scorsese’s most satisfying films in decades, an old man’s movie marked by self-abnegation and a radical slowing-down that pays off in the final section. It highlights the strong ensemble, especially Pesci, and the shift away from flashy style.

The critic praises The Irishman as a monumental late masterpiece from Scorsese, highlighting the reunion of De Niro, Pesci, and the director as their best work since Goodfellas, with deep exploration of friendship, regret, and death. They single out the superb performances (especially De Niro, Pacino, and Pesci) and Thelma Schoonmaker’s editing, which keeps the epic 209-minute runtime feeling much shorter.

The critic calls it a funny, melancholy masterwork in which Scorsese reflects on mortality and his own career. The older-man perspective and reflective tone are singled out as what makes it one of the director's very best films.

Scorsese examines the scars left by World War II on a generation of men who subsumed a legacy of violence and called it work, showing brotherhood as cheap for stoic types focused on cold business. The film succeeds as a thoughtful look at the second half of 20th century America, led by outstanding performances from De Niro, Pesci, and Pacino.

The film is less a gangland tale than a legacy filmmaker reflecting on growing old, with no glamorous sheen to its depiction of crime and striking domestic scenes. De Niro, Pacino, and Pesci deliver some of their best work in a poignant rumination on mortality that gets further under the skin after viewing.

Pete Hammond calls it a moving coda to Scorsese's crime films, praising the masterful direction, performances especially Pacino as Hoffa, groundbreaking de-aging effects, and its meditation on aging, regrets, and consequences.

The critic finds it a major success that incorporates the best aspects of Scorsese's past crime dramas while adding deeper context and morality. The performances, especially Pacino's as Hoffa, and the exhilarating energy despite the reflective tone are singled out for praise.

The critic praises Scorsese's bold, rule-breaking storytelling and near-flawless de-aging technology, singling out the film's unflinching examination of aging, decline, and the melancholy aftermath of a life of crime as its most essential element alongside strong performances from the leads.