The Irishman brings together some of the biggest names in the film industry to create the story of a mob hitman Frank Sheeran who recalls his involvement with the death of Jimmy Hoffa. The disappearance of Hoffa is still a mystery today and Frank Sheeran admits to having been a part of it.
The basics
Directed by Martin Scorsese the Producer, Director and Writer of so many iconic films including ‘Goodfellas’, ‘Taxi Driver’ and ‘Shutter Island’.
Based on the book written by Charles Brandt, the screenplay was written by Steen Zaillian. Zaillian has also written ‘Schindler’s List’, ‘Hannibal’ and ‘American Gangster’.
The film stars Robert De Niro, Al Pacino and Joe Pesci. Now that is a line up!
It is rated a 15 with a run time of 3 hours and 29 minutes.
The film
The Irishman was filmed in New Jersey, New York and Florida.
Joe Pesci refused multiple times to come out of retirement to take part in the film. It is reported that he refused about 50 times before he accepted.
The film started in development in 2007 however. It was not until September 2014 it was announced that The Irishman would be the next Scorsese film.
Paramount Pictures originally had the rights to the film but lost confidence in it after the money needed to make it. The growing cost was mounting due to the visual effects required to make the cast look younger in the flashback scenes. Netflix later took it on even though it still went above the budget they had set out.
Filming was meant to begin in August 2017 around New York up until December of the same year, however, it did not start until September 2017 and finished in March 2018.
De Niro is a producer as well as an actor in the film.
Pacino and Pesci joined the cast in July 2017 as well as Romano, Cannavale and Keitel.
It had its world premier at the 57th New York Film Festival in September 2019.
Already being called a masterpiece with looks to Oscar nominations set to be likely.
Other facts
This is the first film that Scorsese and De Niro have worked on together since ‘Casino’ in 1995.
The truthfulness of the stories told by the real Frank Sheeran have been slated by Bill Tonelli.
The Irishman is the 9th collaborating between De Niro and Scorsese.
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