“The Godfather” was grand and quintessentially baroque. “Godfather II” was a sweeping sociological and psychological statement about corruption and the increasing irrelevance of the mob in light of changed circumstances. “Goodfellas” made being a gangster feel exhilarating. “The Irishman” contains numerous obvious allusions to all three of these movies, but it is a very different kind of experience. The effect of it, if anything, is a bit depressing.
“The Irishman” is essentially about two things. First, it demythologizes the mob. The characters are shown, not as poets or existential heroes, but as plodding, linear, unimaginative people who view violence as just another way of making a living. There is nothing glamorous about their lives: most wind up dead; some waste away in prison; the lucky ones just lose their families and die unmourned. The second is about the passage of time. You see the details of the world in the 1960’s and 1970’s and marvel at how everything has changed. We are told that Jimmy Hoffa was once as big as the Beatles (I don’t remember that, but I was just a kid then); today, the workers at the nursing home don’t even recognize his name.
In an odd way, it’s a perfectly appropriate movie for New Year’s Day. It’s not thrilling, but it’s never boring. Happy New Year!