''The Irishman'' (subtitled onscreen as ''I Heard You Paint Houses'') is a 2019 American epic gangster film directed and produced by

Martin Scorsese Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November 17, 1942) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter and actor. Scorsese emerged as one of the major figures of the New Hollywood era. He is the recipient of many major accolades, inclu ...

and written by

Steven Zaillian Steven Ernest Bernard Zaillian (born January 30, 1953) is an American screenwriter, film director and producer. He won an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award and a BAFTA Award for his screenplay ''Schindler's List'' (1993) and has earned Oscar no ...

, based on the 2004 nonfiction book '' I Heard You Paint Houses'' by Charles Brandt. It stars Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, and

Joe Pesci Joseph Frank Pesci ( , ; born February 9, 1943) is an American actor and musician. He is known for portraying tough, volatile characters in a variety of genres and for his collaborations with Robert De Niro and Martin Scorsese in the films ''Rag ...

, with

Ray Romano Raymond Albert Romano (born December 21, 1957) is an American stand-up comedian, actor and screenwriter. He is best known for his role as Ray Barone on the CBS sitcom '' Everybody Loves Raymond'', for which he received an Emmy Award, and as t ...

, Bobby Cannavale,

Anna Paquin Anna Hélène Paquin ( ; born 24 July 1982) is a New Zealand actress. Born in Winnipeg and raised in Wellington, Paquin made her acting debut portraying Flora McGrath in the romantic drama film '' The Piano'' (1993), for which she won the ...

, Stephen Graham, Stephanie Kurtzuba, Jesse Plemons, and

Harvey Keitel Harvey Keitel ( ; born May 13, 1939) is an American actor. He is known for his portrayal of morally ambiguous and "tough guy" characters. He first rose to prominence during the New Hollywood movement, and has held a long-running association with ...

in supporting roles. The film follows

Frank Sheeran Francis Joseph Sheeran (October 25, 1920 – December 14, 2003), also known as "The Irishman", was an American labor union official and enforcer for Jimmy Hoffa and Russell Bufalino. He was accused of having links to the Pittston crime family ...

(De Niro), a truck driver who becomes a hitman involved with mobster

Russell Bufalino Russell Alfred Bufalino (; born Rosario Alfredo Bufalino, ; September 29, 1903 – February 25, 1994) was an Italian-American mobster who became the crime boss of the Northeastern Pennsylvania Italian-American Mafia crime family known as the ...

(Pesci) and his crime family, including his time working for the powerful

Teamster A teamster is the American term for a truck driver or a person who drives teams of draft animals. Further, the term often refers to a member of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, a labor union in the United States and Canada. Origi ...

Jimmy Hoffa (Pacino). In September 2014, following years of " development hell," ''The Irishman'' was announced as Scorsese's next film after ''

Silence Silence is the absence of ambient audible sound, the emission of sounds of such low intensity that they do not draw attention to themselves, or the state of having ceased to produce sounds; this latter sense can be extended to apply to the c ...

'' (2016). De Niro, who also served as producer, and Pacino were confirmed that month, as was Pesci, who came out of his unofficial retirement to star after numerous requests.

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as a ...

began in September 2017 in New York City and the Mineola and Williston Park sections of Long Island and wrapped in March 2018. Scenes were filmed with a custom three-camera rig to help facilitate the extensive de-ageing digital effects that made De Niro, Pacino, and Pesci appear younger. With a runtime of 209 minutes and a production budget of $159–250 million, it is the longest and most expensive film of Scorsese's career. ''The Irishman'' premiered at the 57th New York Film Festival, and had a

limited theatrical release __FORCETOC__ Limited theatrical release is a film distribution strategy of releasing a new film in a few theaters across a country, typically art house theaters in major metropolitan markets. Since 1994, a limited theatrical release in the Unite ...

on November 1, 2019, followed by digital streaming on

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...

starting on November 27, 2019. It received universal critical acclaim, with praise for Scorsese's direction and the performances of De Niro, Pacino, and Pesci. The film was nominated for 10 awards at the

92nd Academy Awards The 92nd Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored films released in 2019 and took place on February 9, 2020, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, beginning at 5:00 p ...

, and received numerous other accolades.

Plot

In a

nursing home A nursing home is a facility for the residential care of elderly or disabled people. Nursing homes may also be referred to as skilled nursing facility (SNF) or long-term care facilities. Often, these terms have slightly different meanings to i ...

, elderly

Irish-American , image = Irish ancestry in the USA 2018; Where Irish eyes are Smiling.png , image_caption = Irish Americans, % of population by state , caption = Notable Irish Americans , population = 36,115,472 (10.9%) alone ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

veteran

recounts his time as a

hitman Contract killing is a form of murder or assassination in which one party hires another party to kill a targeted person or persons. It involves an illegal agreement which includes some form of payment, monetary or otherwise. Either party may ...

for the

Italian-American Mafia The American Mafia, commonly referred to in North America as the Italian American Mafia, the Mafia, or the Mob, is a highly organized Italian American criminal society and organized crime group. The organization is often referred to by its mem ...

. In 1950s

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

, Sheeran works as a

union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

delivery truck driver, where he starts selling some of the meat shipments to a local Philadelphia Italian-American gangster known as "Skinny Razor", a member of the

Philadelphia crime family The Philadelphia crime family, also known as the Philadelphia Mafia, the Philly Mob or Philly Mafia, the Philadelphia-South Jersey Mafia, or Bruno-Scarfo family is an Italian-American Mafia family based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Formed and ...

headed by

Angelo Bruno Angelo Bruno (born Angelo Annaloro; ; (May 21, 1910 – March 21, 1980) was a Sicilian-American mobster, notable for being boss of the Philadelphia crime family for two decades until his assassination. Bruno was known as "the Gentle Don" due to ...

. After the delivery company accuses Sheeran of theft, Union lawyer

Bill Bufalino William Eugene Bufalino (; April 13, 1918 – May 12, 1990) was an American attorney who represented the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) from 1947 until 1971. He retired in 1982. Bufalino worked closely with Jimmy Hoffa until 1971. ...

gets the case thrown out when Sheeran refuses to name his customers to the judge. Bill introduces Sheeran to his cousin

, head of the Northeastern Pennsylvania crime family. Sheeran begins to carry out jobs for Russell, as well as members of the

South Philadelphia South Philadelphia, nicknamed South Philly, is the section of Philadelphia bounded by South Street to the north, the Delaware River to the east and south and the Schuylkill River to the west.euphemism for contract killing. Soon, Russell introduces Sheeran to Jimmy Hoffa, head of the

International Brotherhood of Teamsters The International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT), also known as the Teamsters Union, is a labor union in the United States and Canada. Formed in 1903 by the merger of The Team Drivers International Union and The Teamsters National Union, the un ...

, who has financial ties with the Northeastern Pennsylvania crime family and is struggling to deal with fellow rising Teamster Anthony "Tony Pro" Provenzano, in addition to mounting pressure from the federal government. Hoffa becomes close with Sheeran and his family, especially his daughter Peggy, and Sheeran becomes Hoffa's chief bodyguard. After the 1960 election of

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...

, Bufalino is thrilled while Hoffa is furious. Kennedy's brother,

Robert Kennedy Robert Francis Kennedy (November 20, 1925June 6, 1968), also known by his initials RFK and by the nickname Bobby, was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 64th United States Attorney General from January 1961 to September 1964, a ...

, whom he appointed Attorney General, forms a "Get Hoffa" squad to bring down Hoffa, who is eventually arrested and convicted in 1964 for

jury tampering Jury tampering is the crime of unduly attempting to influence the composition and/or decisions of a jury during the course of a trial. The means by which this crime could be perpetrated can include attempting to discredit potential jurors to ensur ...

. While Hoffa is in prison, his replacement as Teamsters president,

Frank "Fitz" Fitzsimmons Frank Edward Fitzsimmons (April 7, 1908 – May 6, 1981) was an American labor leader. He was acting president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters from 1967 to 1971, and president from 1971 to 1981. Early life Frank Fitzsimmons was born ...

, misuses the union's pension fund and gives interest-free loans to the Mafia. Hoffa's relationship with Tony Pro, himself arrested for

extortion Extortion is the practice of obtaining benefit through coercion. In most jurisdictions it is likely to constitute a criminal offence; the bulk of this article deals with such cases. Robbery is the simplest and most common form of extortion, ...

, also deteriorates beyond repair when Hoffa refuses to improve his pension terms. Hoffa has his sentence commuted by President

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...

in 1971, although he is forbidden from partaking in any Teamsters activities until 1980. Despite his

parole Parole (also known as provisional release or supervised release) is a form of early release of a prison inmate where the prisoner agrees to abide by certain behavioral conditions, including checking-in with their designated parole officers, or ...

terms, Hoffa undertakes a plan to reclaim his power atop the Teamsters. Hoffa's growing disrespect for other Teamster leaders and his intention to separate the union from the Mafia begin to worry Russell. During a dinner in Sheeran's honor in October 1973, Russell tells Sheeran to confront Hoffa and warn him that the heads of the crime families are displeased with his behavior. Hoffa then informs Sheeran that he "knows things" that Russell and the dons of other families are unaware of and claims that what he knows makes him untouchable, for if anything ever happened to him, they would all end up in prison. In 1975, while on their way to the wedding of Bill's daughter, Russell tells Sheeran that the dons have become fed up with Hoffa and have sanctioned his murder. Reluctantly, Russell informs Sheeran that he has been chosen as the triggerman, knowing he might otherwise try to warn or save Hoffa. The two drive to a private airport where Sheeran boards a plane to

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

. Hoffa, who had scheduled a meeting at a local restaurant with Tony Pro and

Anthony Giacalone Anthony “Tony Jack” Joseph Giacalone (January 9, 1919 – February 23, 2001), also known as Tony Jocks, was a Sicilian-American organized crime figure in Detroit. He served as a capo in the Detroit Partnership, and later as a street boss. I ...

, is surprised to see Sheeran arrive late with Hoffa's unsuspecting foster son Chuckie O'Brien and loan shark Sally Bugs. They advise Hoffa that the meeting was moved to a house where Tony Pro and Russell are waiting to drive him over there. Entering the house, Hoffa finds it empty and realizes that he has been set up. He turns around to leave, at which point Sheeran shoots him dead at

point-blank range Point-blank range is any distance over which a certain firearm can hit a target without the need to compensate for bullet drop, and can be adjusted over a wide range of distances by sighting in the firearm. If the bullet leaves the barrel para ...

and leaves the gun atop his body by the entrance. After Sheeran departs, two other mobsters wrap up the body and cremate it in secret. After invoking their Fifth Amendment rights in a grand jury investigation into Hoffa's disappearance, Sheeran, Russell, Tony Pro, and others are eventually convicted on various charges unrelated to Hoffa's murder. One by one, the elderly gangsters die in prison. Sheeran is eventually released and placed in a nursing home. He tries to reconcile with his alienated daughters, but Peggy, suspecting his involvement in Hoffa's disappearance, has since severed all contact with him. Sheeran begins seeing a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

priest assigned to the nursing home who gives him

absolution Absolution is a traditional theological term for the forgiveness imparted by ordained Christian priests and experienced by Christian penitents. It is a universal feature of the historic churches of Christendom, although the theology and the pr ...

for the crimes he committed over his lifetime, though Sheeran shows little remorse – aside from his killing of Hoffa. As the priest leaves, Sheeran asks him to leave the door slightly ajar, emulating one of Hoffa's habits.

Cast

Additionally, several actors appear in smaller roles, including

Aleksa Palladino Aleksa Federici Palladino (born September 21, 1980) is an American actress and singer, perhaps best known for her lead roles in '' Manny & Lo'', ''The Adventures of Sebastian Cole'', ''Find Me Guilty'', Angela Darmody in the HBO crime series '' ...

as Mary Sheeran,

Kevin O'Rourke Kevin Hjortshøj O'Rourke, (born 25 March 1963) is an Irish economist and historian, who specialises in economic history and international economics. Since 2019, he has been Professor of Economics at New York University Abu Dhabi. He was Profe ...

as John McCullough,

Bo Dietl Richard A. "Bo" Dietl (born December 4, 1950) is an American retired police detective, a media personality and actor. Dietl is the founder and CEO of Beau Dietl & Associates and Beau Dietl Consulting Services. Early life and police career Bo ...

as Joey Glimco, Kate Arrington as Older Connie Sheeran, Jordyn DiNatale as Young Connie Sheeran, Jim Norton as

Don Rickles Donald Jay Rickles (May 8, 1926 – April 6, 2017) was an American stand-up comedian and actor. He became known primarily for his insult comedy. His film roles include ''Run Silent, Run Deep'' (1958) with Clark Gable, Carl Reiner's ''Enter La ...

, Al Linea as Sam "Momo" Giancana,

Garry Pastore Garry Pastore (born December 2, 1961) is an American actor, stuntman, writer, and filmmaker. Background Pastore was born in Great Kills, Staten Island, New York City, the middle child in a family of six. He resides in Central New Jersey with his ...

Albert Anastasia Umberto "Albert" Anastasia (, ; ; September 26, 1902 – October 25, 1957) was an Italian-American mobster, hitman, and crime boss. One of the founders of the modern American Mafia, and a co-founder and later boss of the Murder, Inc. organizat ...

Daniel Jenkins Daniel H. Jenkins (born January 17, 1963) is an American actor, best known for his stage work on Broadway, including his 1985 role as Huckleberry Finn in Roger Miller's '' Big River'', for which he was nominated for a Tony Award. Personal life ...

as E. Howard "Big Ears" Hunt,

Paul Ben-Victor Paul Ben-Victor (born July 24, 1965) is an American actor. He is best known for playing Greek mobster Spiros "Vondas" Vondopoulos on the HBO drama series ''The Wire'', Alan Gray in ''Entourage'' (2005–2008), and Ray in '' Body Parts'' (1991). ...

as Jake Gottlieb, Patrick Gallo as Anthony "Tony Jack" Giacalone, Jake Hoffman as

Allen Dorfman Allen Melnick Dorfman (January 6, 1923 – January 20, 1983) was an American insurance agency owner and a consultant to the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) Central States Pension Fund. He was a close associate of longtime IBT Presid ...

, Ken Clark as James P. Hoffa, Peter Jay Fernandez as Cecil B. Moore, Jeff Moore as Frank Church, Gino Cafarelli as

Frank Rizzo Francis Lazarro Rizzo (October 23, 1920 – July 16, 1991) was an American police officer and politician. He served as Philadelphia police commissioner from 1968 to 1971 and mayor of Philadelphia from 1972 to 1980. He was a member of the Democ ...

, and Robert Funaro as Johnny, a Friendly Lounge bartender. Unnamed roles include Jonathan Morris and James Martin as priests,

Action Bronson Ariyan Arslani (born December 2, 1983), professionally known as Action Bronson, is an American rapper, songwriter, chef, wrestler, exotic olive oil taster, and television presenter. Born and raised in Queens, New York, he embarked on his musical ...

as a casket salesman,

Vinny Vella Vincent Frank Vella (January 11, 1947 – February 20, 2019) was an American actor, talk show host and comedian. He acted in more than forty films often in the role of a gangster. He was best known for the role of Artie Piscano in Martin Scorses ...

as a meat company yard manager,

Matt Walton Matthew "Matt" R. Walton (born August 24, 1973) is an American stage, film, and television actor. Early life Walton was born in Hampton, New Jersey, and attended Boston Conservatory, where he received a degree as a Musical Theater major and a ...

as a TV host, and

Dascha Polanco Dascha Yolaine Polanco (born December 3, 1982) is a Dominican-American actress. She is known for portraying the role of Dayanara "Daya" Diaz on the Netflix series ''Orange Is the New Black'', and for the role of Cuca in the 2021 movie ''In the He ...

as a nurse.

Production

Development

In an interview with ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', Scorsese mentioned that the original contemplation of this project started in the 1980s, stating: "Bob

e Niro E, or e, is the fifth letter and the second vowel letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''e'' (pronounced ); plura ...

and I had tried for many years to come up with a project. This one actually started about 35 years ago with the idea of the remake of ''

The Bad and the Beautiful ''The Bad and the Beautiful'' is a 1952 American melodrama that tells the story of a film producer who alienates everyone around him. The film was directed by Vincente Minnelli, written by George Bradshaw and Charles Schnee, and starring Lana T ...

'' and the sequel ''

Two Weeks in Another Town ''Two Weeks in Another Town'' is a 1962 American drama film directed by Vincente Minnelli and starring Kirk Douglas and Edward G. Robinson. The supporting players include Cyd Charisse, Claire Trevor, Daliah Lavi, George Hamilton, and Rosanna S ...

''. Somehow we exhausted that." Afterwards, Scorsese approached De Niro with an idea to do an aging hitman story, which did not move forward. De Niro then revived that old discussion and "got the project underway" after reading a copy of the 2004 book '' I Heard You Paint Houses'' written by Charles Brandt, with Scorsese saying that De Niro "became rather emotional" as he told him about the lead character. Scorsese then became interested in directing a film adaptation of the book and in casting De Niro, Al Pacino, and

. ''The Irishman'' started its development phase in 2007. New plot materials and rewrites caused the movie to lose its place in the film release calendar, and Scorsese went on to direct three more films, ''

Hugo Hugo or HUGO may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Hugo'' (film), a 2011 film directed by Martin Scorsese * Hugo Award, a science fiction and fantasy award named after Hugo Gernsback * Hugo (franchise), a children's media franchise based on ...

'' (2011), '' The Wolf of Wall Street'' (2013) and ''

'' (2016), before returning to ''The Irishman''. In September 2014, after years of development hell, Pacino confirmed that the film would be Scorsese's next project after ''Silence''. In October 2015, De Niro stated that the film was still happening and could have started filming in 2016 with Steven Zaillian confirmed as screenwriter. De Niro also served as a producer for the film. In July 2017, it was reported that the film would be presented as a series of flashbacks of an older Frank Sheeran, depicted as recollecting his many criminal activities over several decades, with De Niro appearing "as young as 24 years and as old as 80." Producer

Irwin Winkler Irwin Winkler (born May 28, 1931) is an American film producer and director. He is the producer or director of over 58 motion pictures, dating back to 1967's '' Double Trouble'', starring Elvis Presley. The fourth film he produced, '' They Shoot ...

defined the project as "the coming together of people that have worked together since we're kids together", while Rosenthal said that "what will surprise you is, as a Scorsese movie, it is a slower movie. ... It is guys looking at themselves through an older perspective."

Financing and budget

In May 2016, Mexican production company Fábrica de Cine had offered $100 million to finance the film, and through that deal Paramount Pictures would retain domestic rights.

IM Global IM Global was an American independent film and TV production company, The company was founded by Stuart Ford in April 2007 and operating in international film, television and music production, as well as sales and international distribution. The ...

was also circling to bid for the film's international sales rights. STX Entertainment bought the international distribution rights to the film for $50 million beating out other studios like

Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...

, and

Lionsgate Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation, doing business as Lionsgate, is a Canadian-American entertainment company. It was formed by Frank Giustra on July 10, 1997, domiciled in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and is currently headquartered ...

, while Fábrica de Cine closed the deal and Paramount retained its domestic rights. By February 2017, Paramount Pictures had dropped domestic distribution rights for ''The Irishman'' following the announcement that Fábrica de Cine would not be financing the film due to its climbing budget.

then bought the film rights for $105 million and agreed to finance the film's $125-million budget with a projected release date of October 2019. In March 2018, it was also reported the film's budget had ballooned from $125 million to $140 million, due in large part to the visual effects needed to make De Niro, Pacino, and Pesci appear younger at various points throughout the film. By August of that year, speculation had arisen that the cost had reportedly risen to as much as $175 million by the time post-production was to have wrapped, and some publications asserted that it might go as high as $200 million. In August 2019, it was reported that the film's official cost was $159 million. However, reports on the production budget have continued to vary, occasionally noted as high as $250 million, with Jeff Sneider of

Collider A collider is a type of particle accelerator which brings two opposing particle beams together such that the particles collide. Colliders may either be ring accelerators or linear accelerators. Colliders are used as a research tool in particl ...

saying: "No one is on the same page on the budget for this film. And let me tell you what that means. It means the budget is ay higherthan any of you are imagining."

Writing

In July 2009, Brandt received a phone call from De Niro that led to a meeting a month later between the two of them, Scorsese and screenwriter Steven Zaillian. The meeting was supposed to last an hour but ended up lasting four hours. Brandt said that "the material was new to them" and Zaillian already had a script ready, but the additions Brandt made required a do-over. To help, Brandt handed over a screenplay of his own. Brandt said, "Zaillian is a great writer, don't get me wrong ... I wanted to log the material." In the opening credits and as a reflection of the writing adaptation process, the final film is titled ''I Heard You Paint Houses'', the name of the novel on which the picture is based, while the title ''The Irishman'' appears only in the end credits. The truthfulness of Sheeran's supposed confessions and the book on which the film was based has been challenged by "The Lies of the Irishman", an article on '' Slate'' by Bill Tonelli, as well as by "Jimmy Hoffa and The Irishman: A True Crime Story?" by legal scholar

Jack Goldsmith Jack Landman Goldsmith III (born September 26, 1962) is an American legal scholar. He is a professor at Harvard Law School who has written extensively in the fields of international law, civil procedure, federal courts, conflict of laws, and na ...

, which appeared in ''

The New York Review of Books ''The New York Review of Books'' (or ''NYREV'' or ''NYRB'') is a semi-monthly magazine with articles on literature, culture, economics, science and current affairs. Published in New York City, it is inspired by the idea that the discussion of i ...

''. Chip Fleischer, the publisher of ''I Heard You Paint Houses'', wrote a detailed reply to Tonelli's piece, calling it "irresponsible in the extreme, not to mention damaging." In an interview, De Niro defended the writing process of the film by stating, "We're not saying we're telling the actual story. We're telling our story."

Casting

The casting director for the film was Ellen Lewis, who was also the casting director in four other Scorsese films. In July 2017, Pacino and Pesci officially joined the cast, with

also joining and Bobby Cannavale and

in final negotiations. Pesci was offered his role a reported 50 times before agreeing to take part, at first saying he did not want to do "the gangster thing again", while Scorsese tried to persuade him ''The Irishman'' would be "different." De Niro played a big part in convincing Pesci to take the role, telling him "We gotta do this. Who knows if there'll be anything after?" In September 2017, Jack Huston, Stephen Graham,

Domenick Lombardozzi Domenico "Domenick" Lombardozzi (, ; born March 25, 1976) is an American actor. He is best known for portraying Herc in ''The Wire'', and is also known for his roles in ''A Bronx Tale'' (1993), '' Entourage'', and ''The Irishman'' (2019). Ca ...

Jeremy Luke Jeremy Luke (born March 23, 1977) is an American actor, best known for his roles as Danny in ''Don Jon'' and as Mickey Cohen in the TNT series '' Mob City''. Early life Luke was born and raised in Staten Island, New York. He attended the Colleg ...

, Joseph Russo,

Kathrine Narducci Kathrine Narducci (; born November 22, 1965) is an American actress, known for her role as Charmaine Bucco, Artie Bucco's wife, on the HBO crime drama series ''The Sopranos'' (1999–2007). Her film credits include ''A Bronx Tale'' (1993), ' ...

, Danny Abeckaser, J. C. MacKenzie, and Craig Vincent joined the cast. In October,

Gary Basaraba Gary Basaraba (born March 16, 1959) is a Canadian actor. He appeared as Sergeant Richard Santoro on Steven Bochco's ''Brooklyn South'' and Officer Ray Hechler on the critically acclaimed but short-lived ''Boomtown''. He has worked for Martin ...

, Welker White, and Jesse Plemons joined the cast of the film. Later, Craig Di Francia and

were revealed to have joined the cast.

Sebastian Maniscalco Sebastian Maniscalco (; ; born July 8, 1973) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He has released five comedy specials. Maniscalco has also had supporting acting roles in the films '' Green Book'' (2018) and ''The Irishman'' (2019), playi ...

and

were later revealed as being part of the cast. ''The Irishman'' is the ninth feature collaboration between De Niro and Scorsese and their first since 1995's ''

Casino A casino is a facility for certain types of gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos are also known for hosting live entertai ...

''; the fourth film to star both De Niro and Pacino (following ''

The Godfather Part II ''The Godfather Part II'' is a 1974 American epic crime film produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The film is partially based on the 1969 novel ''The Godfather'' by Mario Puzo, who co-wrote the screenplay with Coppola. ''Part II'' s ...

'', ''

Heat In thermodynamics, heat is defined as the form of energy crossing the boundary of a thermodynamic system by virtue of a temperature difference across the boundary. A thermodynamic system does not ''contain'' heat. Nevertheless, the term is ...

,'' and ''

Righteous Kill ''Righteous Kill'' is a 2008 American action thriller film directed by Jon Avnet and written by Russell Gewirtz. The film stars Robert De Niro and Al Pacino as New York City Police Department detectives on the hunt for a serial killer. It is the ...

''); the seventh to star both De Niro and Pesci (following ''

Raging Bull ''Raging Bull'' is a 1980 American biographical sports drama film directed by Martin Scorsese, produced by Robert Chartoff and Irwin Winkler and adapted by Paul Schrader and Mardik Martin from Jake LaMotta's 1970 memoir '' Raging Bull: My ...

'', ''

Once Upon a Time in America ''Once Upon a Time in America'' ( it, C'era una volta in America) is a 1984 epic crime film co-written and directed by Italian filmmaker Sergio Leone and starring Robert De Niro and James Woods. The film is an Italian–American venture prod ...

'', ''

Goodfellas ''Goodfellas'' (stylized ''GoodFellas'') is a 1990 American biographical crime film directed by Martin Scorsese, written by Nicholas Pileggi and Scorsese, and produced by Irwin Winkler. It is a film adaptation of the 1985 nonfiction book '' W ...

'', '' A Bronx Tale'', ''Casino'', and '' The Good Shepherd''); the first to star both Pacino and Pesci; and the first time Pacino has been directed by Scorsese. Scorsese said of finally working with Pacino, "I'd been wanting to work with Al for years.

Francis Coppola Francis Ford Coppola (; ; born April 7, 1939) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is considered one of the major figures of the New Hollywood filmmaking movement of the 1960s and 1970s. Coppola is the recipient of five A ...

introduced me to him in 1970. Then he's in ''The Godfather'' one and two, and he's in the stratosphere. For me, Al was always something unreachable. We even tried to make a film in the 1980s but couldn't get the financing for it. I said, 'What's he like to work with?' Bob

said, 'Oh, he's great. You'll see.'" Scorsese added that there is a meta aspect to seeing Pacino and De Niro interact in ''The Irishman'', saying, "What you see in the film is their relationship as actors, as friends, over the past 40, 45 years. There's something magical that happens there."

Filming

was originally set to start in August 2017, in and around New York City, and would continue through December 2017. Instead, filming began on September 18, 2017, in New York City and in the Mineola and Williston Park sections of Long Island, and wrapped on March 5, 2018, for a total of 108 days. Additional scenes were filmed in the

Hudson Valley The Hudson Valley (also known as the Hudson River Valley) comprises the valley of the Hudson River and its adjacent communities in the U.S. state of New York. The region stretches from the Capital District including Albany and Troy south to ...

in Salisbury Mills and Suffern, among other sites, including Paterson, New Jersey. A posture coach was hired to instruct De Niro, Pacino, and Pesci on how to comport themselves like much younger men. The picture was primarily shot on 35 mm film with

Arricam Arricam is a 35 mm movie camera line manufactured by Arri. Description It is Arri's flagship sync-sound camera line, replacing the Arriflex 535 line. The design was developed by Fritz Gabriel Bauer and Walter Trauninger, and is heavily deriv ...

STs and LTs, and with RED Heliums for sections shot on digital, with two IR-capable Arri Alexa Minis as witness-cameras for the de-aging. All scenes that required de-aging effects were shot digitally with a custom three-camera rig they called the "three-headed monster." Scorsese envisioned the film as having an "old-fashioned" look which cinematographer

Rodrigo Prieto Rodrigo Prieto, ASC, AMC (born November 23, 1965), is a Mexican cinematographer. He has been closely associated as cinematographer for Martin Scorsese and Alejandro González Iñárritu, among other directors. He is a member of both the Mexican ...

accomplished by using "a series of lookup tables" for each scene. Sherlock summarized the filming approach used for each historical decade depicted throughout the film, stating: "The '50s-set scenes have a

Kodachrome Kodachrome is the brand name for a color reversal film introduced by Eastman Kodak in 1935. It was one of the first successful color materials and was used for both cinematography and still photography. For many years Kodachrome was widely used ...

look; the '60s-set scenes have an

Ektachrome Ektachrome is a brand name owned by Kodak for a range of transparency, still, and motion picture films previously available in many formats, including 35 mm and sheet sizes to 11 × 14 inch size. Ektachrome has a distinctive look that ...

look; the '70s-set scenes have a silvery layer plastered over them; and any scene set in the '80s and onwards have a

bleach bypass Bleach bypass, also known as skip bleach or silver retention, is a chemical effect which entails either the partial or complete skipping of the bleaching function during the processing of a color film. By doing this, the silver is retained in t ...

look, and are also more de-saturated than the other scenes." The extensive production design covered 117 filming locations, 319 scenes, 160 actors, in a story spanning 50 years. Producer Emma Tillinger Koskoff summarized her relation to Scorsese and his principal crew, stating: "I also work closely with the line producer, AD ssistant Directorand DP irector of Photographyon a budget and schedule, and we create a production plan that will realize Marty's vision. ... We scouted a lot. Our prep was almost six months; sometimes we were scouting after the day's wrap, trying to find new location ... due to weather or whatever; it was pretty insane." Sandy Powell and Christopher Peterson were costume designer and co-designer, respectively. Speaking about Scorsese, Powell said, "one of the things he said on a first meeting was that we weren't doing the same kind of gangsters as ''Goodfellas'' or ''Casino'' ... These weren't flashy peacock looks. We were doing a low-key version. I mean, there are some obvious mafia types in there, but half of that is the way these people hold themselves." The film had a total of "250 characters and 6,500 extras", said Peterson, with Powell adding that "you need a lot of research, a lot of hard work, and you need to just get down and do it. ... You basically have to sort of divide your brain up into those five different decades, and approach it as if there are three or four films in one. You're filming more than one decade in one day, and that's when you'd have to really know what you were doing." Bill Desowitz, writing for ''

IndieWire IndieWire (sometimes stylized as indieWIRE or Indiewire) is a film industry and review website that was established in 1996. The site's focus was predominantly independent film, although its coverage has grown to "to include all aspects of Holl ...

'', stated that the film had been considered as contending for an Oscar nomination for its editing. Editor

Thelma Schoonmaker Thelma Schoonmaker (; born January 3, 1940) is an American film editor, known for her over five decades of work with frequent director Martin Scorsese. She started working with Scorsese on his debut feature film '' Who's That Knocking at My Doo ...

commented: "Marty wanted to show the banality of the violence ... It's not like the incredible camera moves or flashy editing of the earlier movies. Victims are killed in an instant—often in very simple wide shots. And his brilliant idea of slamming the titles in front of the audience (describing how various mob characters die) was a way of showing that being part of the Mafia is not a good idea".

Visual effects

Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) and

visual effects supervisor In the context of film and television production, a visual effects supervisor is responsible for achieving the creative aims of the director or producers through the use of visual effects Visual effects (sometimes abbreviated VFX) is the process ...

Pablo Helman Pablo Helman (born July 5, 1959) is an Argentine visual effects supervisor. He was nominated for three Academy Awards for his work on the films '' Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones'' (2002), ''War of the Worlds'' (2005) and ''The Ir ...

handled the effects for the film. In August 2015, Scorsese and De Niro made a test reel by recreating a scene from ''

'' (1990), to see if the de-aging could work. Scorsese said that "the risk was there, and that was it. We just tried to make the film. After sitting on the couch for ten years ..!-- brackets in original --> we finally had a way." By the time the film was released, Pacino was 79 years old, with De Niro and Pesci both 76 years old. Scorsese and De Niro made the decision not to use motion tracking markers. Helman said, "He's not going to wear a helmet with little cameras in there ... He's going to want to be in the moment with Joe Pesci and Al Pacino on set, with no markers on him. So, if you're going to capture the performance, how are you going to do that?" Scenes that required the de-aging

visual effects Visual effects (sometimes abbreviated VFX) is the process by which imagery is created or manipulated outside the context of a live-action shot in filmmaking and video production. The integration of live-action footage and other live-action foota ...

were shot digitally with a custom three-camera rig. Helman and his team had spent two years analyzing old films to determine how the actors should look at various ages. In March 2018, speaking about the de-aging process, Pacino told ''IndieWire'', "I was playing Jimmy Hoffa at the age of 39, they're doing that on a computer ... We went through all these tests and things ... Someone would come up to me and say, 'You're 39.' ou'd recallsome sort of memory of 39, and your body tries to acclimate to that and think that way. They remind you of it." The extent of the visual effects was made evident when the amount of effects was quantified by ''Indiewire'' stating: "Once again technology caught up with need when ILM developed an innovative, digital de-aging process without facial impediments ... The impressive results put ILM on the Academy's longlist this week for the VFX Oscar ... The costly VFX de-aging, therefore, became the tech centerpiece, with 1,750 shots created for two and a half hours of footage".

Soundtrack

Robbie Robertson and music supervisor Randall Poster compiled the soundtrack. It features both original and existing music tracks. Speaking to ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'', Robertson said, "This is probably the tenth film I've worked on with Marty corsese and every time we do it, it's a whole new experience ... The music score for ''The Irishman'' was an unusual feat. We were trying to discover a sound, a mood, a feel, that could work, over the many decades that this story takes place." Robertson also wrote the score for the film, although only his "Theme for the Irishman" appears on the soundtrack. Two tracks Robertson wrote for the film that appear in the credits, "I Hear You Paint Houses" and "Remembrance" featuring

Frederic Yonnet Frederic may refer to: Places United States * Frederic, Wisconsin, a village in Polk County * Frederic Township, Michigan, a township in Crawford County ** Frederic, Michigan, an unincorporated community Other uses * Frederic (band), a Japanes ...

on the

diatonic harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica inclu ...

, were included on his 2019 album ''

Sinematic ''Sinematic'' is the sixth solo release from Canadian singer-musician Robbie Robertson. It was released on September 20, 2019. The tracks "I Hear You Paint Houses" and "Remembrance" both appear in the credits for the film ''The Irishman''. Track ...

''. The album was digitally released on November 1, 2019, followed by a physical release on November 29.

Release

''The Irishman'' had its world premiere at the 57th New York Film Festival on September 27, 2019, and had a

on November 1, 2019, followed by digital streaming on Netflix starting on November 27, 2019. ''The Irishman''s international premiere was at the Closing Night Gala of the BFI London Film Festival on October 13, 2019. The festival's director Tricia Tuttle said it was an "immense cinephile thrill" to close the event with an "epic of breathtakingly audacious scale and complexity" from "one of the true greats of cinema." The film also had screenings at numerous film festivals, including:

Mill Valley Mill Valley is a city in Marin County, California, Marin County, California, United States, located about north of San Francisco via the Golden Gate Bridge and from Napa Valley. The population was 14,231 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 ...

Hamptons The Hamptons, part of the East End of Long Island, consist of the towns of Southampton and East Hampton, which together comprise the South Fork of Long Island, in Suffolk County, New York. The Hamptons are a popular seaside resort and one of ...

, Lumière,

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United State ...

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' fin ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

Camerimage The International Film Festival of the Art of Cinematography Camerimage () is a festival dedicated to the celebration of cinematography and recognition of its creators, cinematographers. The first seven events (1993–1999) were held in Toruń, ...

Los Cabos LOS, or Los, or LoS may refer to: Science and technology * Length of stay, the duration of a single episode of hospitalisation * Level of service, a measure used by traffic engineers * Level of significance, a measure of statistical significanc ...

, Mar del Plata, and

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the Capital city, capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, List of ...

. Additionally, from November 1 to December 1, 2019, ''The Irishman'' screened at the

Belasco Theatre The Belasco Theatre is a Broadway theater at 111 West 44th Street, between Seventh Avenue and Sixth Avenue, in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Originally known as the Stuyvesant Theatre, it was built in 1907 an ...

in New York City, making it the first film to ever screen in the Belasco's 112-year history. A 23-minute featurette of a roundtable discussion with Martin Scorsese, Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, and Joe Pesci titled '' The Irishman: In Conversation'' was released on Netflix on November 28, 2019. A three-part companion

podcast A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosin ...

for the film called ''Behind The Irishman'' was hosted by

, and published weekly from December 2 to 16, 2019; there were also three bonus episodes released on January 27, 30, and February 3, 2020.

Audience viewership

According to Nielsen, ''The Irishman'' was watched by 17.1 million people in its first five days of digital release in the United States, including 3.9 million on its debut day. While the overall total was lower than previous Netflix originals such as '' Bird Box'' (26 million over its first week in December 2018), 751,000 users watched the film in its entirety on its premiere date (18 percent), which was on par with ''Bird Box'' and higher than '' El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie'' (11 percent). Nielsen also noted that the largest number of viewers to watch the film in its entirety (930,000) came on November 29, and its opening day demo was made up mostly of men aged 50–64 (20 percent), while they also made up an overall 15 percent of the viewership over the five-day period. Several days later, Netflix's

chief content officer A chief content officer (CCO) is a corporate executive responsible for the digital media creation and multi-channel publication of the organization's content (text, video, audio, animation, etc.). The CCO is usually an executive role or senior v ...

Ted Sarandos Theodore Anthony Sarandos Jr. is an American businessman who serves as the co-chief executive officer and chief content officer for Netflix. Early life Sarandos was born in Phoenix, Arizona. His father was Ted Sarandos Sr, an electrician, and ...

announced that a total of 26.4 million accounts worldwide had watched at least 70 percent of the film, meaning that about 16 percent of all Netflix account holders watched the film during its first week of release. He also estimated that total would reach 40 million after the film's first month of release. It was the fourth most watched Netflix film of 2019, and the fifth most popular Netflix release overall. In July 2020, Netflix revealed the film had in-fact been watched by 64 million households over its first four weeks of release, among the most-ever for one of their original films.

Limited theatrical release

CMiks - The Irishman table - CCA 2020 01 12

United States

''The Irishman'' received a limited theatrical release on November 1, 2019, in the United States. As part of the continuing tensions between the film markets for direct-to-digital streaming and theatrical releases and distribution of films, several theater chains protested the policy of Netflix for the release of Scorsese's ''The Irishman''. The film did not play at the theaters owned by

AMC AMC may refer to: Film and television * AMC Theatres, an American movie theater chain * AMC Networks, an American entertainment company ** AMC (TV channel) ** AMC+, streaming service ** AMC Networks International, an entertainment company *** ...

, Cinemark, Regal, or Cineplex, because the "four week progression to SVOD remains unacceptable to those chains." It was previously reported in February 2019 that Netflix would possibly give the film a wide theatrical release, at the request of Scorsese. The heads of several theater chains, including AMC's Adam Aron, who refused to play '' Roma'' the previous November, said they would only be open to playing ''The Irishman'' if Netflix "respects the decades old theatrical window, that suggests that movies come to theaters first for a couple of months, and then go to the home." Two major chains offered to exhibit the film if given an exclusivity window of 60 days, approximately two weeks shorter than the typical window, but could not reach an agreement with Netflix. The film peaked at playing in 500 theaters, essentially the most possible without the involvement of a major chain.

Other countries

In the United Kingdom,

Altitude Film Distribution Altitude Film Distribution is a British film distribution company, part of the Altitude Film Entertainment group. The parent company was launched in 2012 by Optimum Releasing founder Will Clarke. Altitude Film Entertainment is vertically int ...

launched the film through the

Everyman The everyman is a stock character of fiction. An ordinary and humble character, the everyman is generally a protagonist whose benign conduct fosters the audience's identification with them. Origin The term ''everyman'' was used as early as ...

and Curzon cinema chains, where the film was shown on about 80 screens, while other British cinema chains, including Picturehouse,

Vue Vue or VUE may refer to: Places * Vue, Loire-Atlantique, a commune in France * The Vue, a skyscraper in Charlotte, North Carolina Arts, entertainment and media * Vue (band), a rock and roll band from San Francisco, California * Vue Cinemas, a c ...

, and Odeon, turned down the film in order to uphold the 90-day window that was standard practice across much of Europe. In

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, ''The Irishman'' played on about 100 screens via

Cineteca di Bologna The Cineteca di Bologna is a film archive in Bologna, Italy. It was founded on 18 May 1962. Since 1989, it has been a member of the Fédération internationale des archives du film (FIAF). It has been a member of the Association des cinémath ...

, the same distributor that released ''Roma'' in 2018 and caused an uproar among Italian exhibitors, but no similar protests occurred over ''The Irishman''. The film also received limited releases in Germany, Spain, Ireland, Japan, Brazil, South Korea, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. The film did not play in France because of the country's 30-month window between a film's theatrical release and its availability on TV and other outlets. Despite all of this controversy, ''The Irishman'' became Netflix's biggest theatrical release both in the United States and internationally.

Marketing

The announcement trailer for the film premiered during the

91st Academy Awards The 91st Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 2018 and took place on February 24, 2019, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles. During the ceremony, ...

ceremony on February 24, 2019. Netflix then released a teaser trailer on July 31, 2019, while the official trailer debuted on ''

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon ''The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jimmy Fallon that airs on NBC. The show premiered on February 17, 2014, and is produced by Broadway Video and Universal Television. It is the seventh incar ...

'' on September 25, 2019. The final trailer was released on November 19, 2019. To promote the release of the film on its streaming service, Netflix took over five blocks of

Little Italy, Manhattan Little Italy (also it, Piccola Italia) is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan in New York City, known for its large Italian population. It is bounded on the west by Tribeca and Soho, on the south by Chinatown, on the east by the Bowery and Lowe ...

, on November 22 and 23, 2019, and back-dated them to August 1, 1975, the day after Jimmy Hoffa was reported missing. The studio spent an estimated $50 million promoting the film, as well as an additional $40 million on its Oscar campaign.

Home media

''The Irishman'' received director-approved special edition

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

and

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of st ...

releases by

The Criterion Collection The Criterion Collection, Inc. (or simply Criterion) is an American home video, home-video distribution company that focuses on licensing, restoring and distributing "important classic and contemporary films." Criterion serves film and media scho ...

on November 24, 2020.

Reception

Box office

''The Irishman'' opened at three theaters in New York City and five in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

on November 1, 2019; while Netflix does not publicly disclose box office figures for its films, ''IndieWire'' estimated that it grossed a "strong" $350,000 in its opening weekend, an average $43,750 per venue. ''

Deadline Hollywood ''Deadline Hollywood'', commonly known as ''Deadline'' and also referred to as ''Deadline.com'', is an online news site founded as the news blog ''Deadline Hollywood Daily'' by Nikki Finke in 2006. The site is updated several times a day, wit ...

'' noted that numerous showtimes at several theaters, including

Grauman's Egyptian Theatre Grauman's Egyptian Theatre is a historic movie theater located at 6706 Hollywood Blvd. in Hollywood, California. Opened in 1922, it is an early example of a lavish movie palace and is noted as having been the site of the first-ever Hollywood ...

in Los Angeles and the

IFC Center IFC Center is an art house movie theater in Greenwich Village, Manhattan, New York City. Located at 323 Sixth Avenue (Avenue of the Americas) at West 3rd Street, it was formerly the Waverly Theater, an art house movie theater. IFC Center is ...

in New York, had sold-out showings. The site also argued that had the film gone wide theatrically, it likely would have become a

box office bomb A box-office bomb, or box-office disaster, is a film that is unprofitable or considered highly unsuccessful during its theatrical run. Although any film for which the production, marketing, and distribution costs combined exceed the revenue after ...

given its 209-minute runtime and large budget, noting that another period crime film with a long runtime that opened the same weekend, '' Motherless Brooklyn'', failed to meet its projections. Conversely,

CNBC CNBC (formerly Consumer News and Business Channel) is an American basic cable business news channel. It provides business news programming on weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., Eastern Time, while broadcasting talk sho ...

wrote that Netflix was "leaving millions on the table" by not giving the film a wide theatrical release, and claimed it could have legged out to at least $100 million at the domestic box office, citing the high demand for tickets during its opening weekend (with some reselling for $65–85) and that Scorsese's last gangster film, ''

The Departed ''The Departed'' is a 2006 American epic crime thriller film directed by Martin Scorsese and written by William Monahan. It is both a remake of the 2002 Hong Kong film '' Infernal Affairs'' and also loosely based on the real-life Boston Win ...

'', made $132 million in 2006. An opinion piece in the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television a ...

'' wrote the film "potentially could have brought in anywhere from $80–115 million" if it was released theatrically, and also contested that the film would lose Netflix as much as $280 million due to its high production and marketing costs compared to limited box office receipts. Expanding to 22 theaters in its second weekend, the film made an estimated $440,000, for a ten-day running total of about $940,000. It then grossed an estimated $1.25 million from 175 theaters in its third week, and $1.2 million from 200 in its fourth. Despite being released on Netflix on November 27, the film expanded to 500 theaters in its fifth weekend, "close to the maximum number with most top theater chains refusing to let their customers have a chance to see it in theaters despite the acclaim and interest", and made an estimated $1 million. It then made an estimated $450,000 from 320 theaters in its sixth weekend—likely becoming Netflix's most successful theatrical release to-date with a running total of $6.7 million—and then $100,000 from 70 theaters in its seventh. Through its eighth and ninth weekend, the film was reduced to minimal theater play. ''The Irishman'' grossed an estimated $7 million in North America and $968,683 in other territories, for a worldwide total of $8 million.

Critical response

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the film holds an approval rating of based on reviews, with an average rating of . The website's critics consensus reads: "An epic gangster drama that earns its extended runtime, ''The Irishman'' finds Martin Scorsese revisiting familiar themes to poignant, funny, and profound effect."

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 94 out of 100 based on 55 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". Writing for ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...

'',

Stephanie Zacharek Stephanie Zacharek is an American film critic at ''Time'', based in New York City. From 2013 to 2015, she was the principal film critic for ''The Village Voice''. She was a 2015 Pulitzer Prize finalist in criticism. Early life Stephanie Zachare ...

gave ''The Irishman'' a perfect score, calling the film "clever and entertaining, to the point where you may think that's all it's going to be" and that "its last half-hour is deeply moving in a way that creeps up on you, and it's then that you see what Scorsese was working toward all along"; she also added that "the de-aging is distracting at first ... but the special effects are hardly a deal breaker, and in the end they probably add to the movie's mythological vibe". Similarly, Owen Gleiberman of ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' called it "a coldly enthralling, long-form knockout—a majestic Mob epic with ice in its veins", particularly praising Pacino's performance as "the film's most extraordinary." '' RogerEbert.com''s

Matt Zoller Seitz Matt Zoller Seitz (born December 26, 1968) is an American film and television critic, author and film-maker. Career Matt Zoller Seitz is editor-at-large at RogerEbert.com, and the television critic for '' New York'' magazine and Vulture.com, as ...

gave the film three and a half stars out of four, defining Scorsese as "one of the greatest living, though still largely unsung, comedy directors" and also praised the editing of Thelma Schoonmaker. Benjamin Lee of ''

'' wrote that in the film "there's an almost meta-maturity, as if Scorsese is also looking back on his own career, the film leaving us with a haunting reminder not to glamorise violent men and the wreckage they leave behind." Mike Ryan of ''

Uproxx ''Uproxx'' (stylized in all caps) is an entertainment and popular culture news website. It was founded in 2008 by Jarret Myer and Brian Brater, and acquired by Woven Digital (later renamed Uproxx Media Group) in 2014. The site's target audience ...

'' called it a "phenomenal film", stating that the de-aging is "pretty good" and "the best I've seen so far", but noted that "if you stare at it, yes, you can see the imperfections ... but you do get used to it". ''IndieWire''s Eric Kohn stated that "''The Irishman'' is Martin Scorsese's best crime movie since ''

'', and a pure, unbridled illustration of what has made his filmmaking voice so distinctive for nearly 50 years", reserving particular praise for Steven Zaillian's screenplay, writing that "Zaillian hasn't delivered a script this polished since '' Moneyball''."

David Edelstein David Edelstein (born 1959) is a freelance American film critic who has been the principal film critic for ''Slate'' and ''New York'' magazine, among others, and has appeared regularly on NPR's ''Fresh Air'' and ''CBS Sunday Morning'' programs. O ...

wrote for ''

Vulture A vulture is a bird of prey that scavenges on carrion. There are 23 extant species of vulture (including Condors). Old World vultures include 16 living species native to Europe, Africa, and Asia; New World vultures are restricted to North and ...

'' that " esciplays Bufalino as almost supernaturally focused and watchful, always hypersensitive to other peoples' rhythms. ... I thank the gods of acting that he came out of retirement to do this." He also praised the performances of De Niro and Pacino, stating that ''The Irishman'' is one of Scorsese's "most satisfying films in decades." Writing for ''

TheWrap ''TheWrap'' is an American online news website covering the business of entertainment and media via digital, print and live events. It was founded by journalist Sharon Waxman Sharon I. Waxman (born c.1963) is an American author, journalist, ...

'',

Alonso Duralde Alonso Duralde (born May 18, 1967) is an American film critic, author, and podcaster. Personal life Duralde was born in East Point, Georgia, the youngest of seven children born to Spanish immigrants. He attended Vanderbilt University and curre ...

praised Rodrigo Prieto's cinematography and Scorsese's direction, writing that "at the age of 76, Scorsese is embracing new technologies with the fervor of

Ang Lee Ang Lee (; born October 23, 1954) is a Taiwanese filmmaker. Born in Pingtung County of southern Taiwan, Lee was educated in Taiwan and later in the United States. During his filmmaking career, he has received international critical and popula ...

... and indulging in retro fantasy with the keen eye of

Quentin Tarantino Quentin Jerome Tarantino (; born March 27, 1963) is an American film director, writer, producer, and actor. His films are characterized by stylized violence, extended dialogue, profanity, dark humor, non-linear storylines, cameos, ensembl ...

". Nicholas Rapold of ''

Film Comment ''Film Comment'' is the official publication of Film at Lincoln Center. It features reviews and analysis of mainstream, art-house, and avant-garde filmmaking from around the world. Founded in 1962 and originally released as a quarterly, ''Film Co ...

'', gave the de-aging CGI approach used in the filming a mixed assessment, stating that: "De Niro's rosy complexion as a truck driver 'kid' recalls a tinted postcard photo more than a person, and I can't explain away the same de-aged De Niro curb-stomping a grocer, looking more like the septuagenarian star he is than a ferociously protective dad." While giving a positive review, David Rooney of ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Hollywood film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade paper, and in 2010 switched to a weekly larg ...

'' criticized the running time, stating that "the excessive length ultimately is a weakness" and "that the material would have been better served by losing an hour or more to run at standard feature length." Writing for the ''

National Review ''National Review'' is an American conservative editorial magazine, focusing on news and commentary pieces on political, social, and cultural affairs. The magazine was founded by the author William F. Buckley Jr. in 1955. Its editor-in-chief ...

'', Kyle Smith gave a more critical review, saying that "while it's a good film, it isn't a great one" and also commented that " 'The Irishman''could easily be trimmed by 30 minutes or more by tightening up the midsection." Conversely,

Richard Brody Richard Brody (born 1958) is an American film critic who has written for ''The New Yorker'' since 1999. Education Brody grew up in Roslyn, New York, and attended Princeton University, receiving a B.A. in comparative literature in 1980. He firs ...

of ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'' wrote "it runs a minute shy of three and a half hours, and I wouldn't wish it any shorter", and Karen Han of ''

Polygon In geometry, a polygon () is a plane figure that is described by a finite number of straight line segments connected to form a closed ''polygonal chain'' (or ''polygonal circuit''). The bounded plane region, the bounding circuit, or the two to ...

'' said that "Scorsese is so adept at storytelling, and his cast is so unbelievable, that the film ... barely feels its length." ''The Irishman'' also garnered acclaim from a number of filmmakers, many of whom listed the film as one of their favorites of 2019, including

Ana Lily Amirpour Ana Lily Amirpour ( fa, آنا لیلی امیرپور) is a British-born American film director, screenwriter, producer and actress. She is best known for her feature film debut '' A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night'', self-described as "the firs ...

, Olivier Assayas, Bong Joon-ho, Guillermo del Toro,

Luca Guadagnino Luca Guadagnino (; born 10 August 1971) is an Italian film director, producer, and screenwriter. His films are often characterized by their emotional complexities, sensuality and sumptuous visuals. He is also known for his frequent collaboration ...

Ciro Guerra Ciro Guerra (born 6 February 1981) is a Colombian film director and screenwriter. He is best known for his 2015 film ''Embrace of the Serpent'', the film was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 88th Academy Awards. Career He made hi ...

Bill Hader William Thomas Hader Jr.''Finding Your Roots'', January 26, 2016, PBS. (born June 7, 1978) is an American actor, comedian, writer, and producer. He is the creator, producer, writer, director, and star of the HBO dark comedy series ''Barry'' (201 ...

, Don Hertzfeldt, Alejandro Landes,

Alex Ross Perry Alex Ross Perry (born July 14, 1984) is an American filmmaker and actor. Early life Perry was born to a Jewish family in 1984 and raised in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, where he worked on a local television news program during high school.Renninger, ...

, Paul Schrader,

Adam Wingard Adam Wingard ( ; born December 3, 1982) is an American filmmaker. He has served as a director, producer, screenwriter, editor, cinematographer, actor, and composer on numerous projects. Following an early career as a member of the mumblecore ...

, and Quentin Tarantino, who ranked it as his favorite of the year.

Accolades

At the

, ''The Irishman'' received 10 nominations for

Best Picture This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...

Best Director Best Director is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organizations, festivals, and people's awards. It may refer to: Film awards * AACTA Award for Best Direction * Academy Award for Best Director * BA ...

, Best Supporting Actor for Pacino and Pesci, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Production Design, Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, Best Film Editing, and Best Visual Effects, although it failed to win any. It was also nominated for five awards at the

77th Golden Globe Awards The 77th Golden Globe Awards honored the best in film and American television of 2019, as chosen by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. Produced by Dick Clark Productions and the HFPA, the ceremony was broadcast live on January 5, 2020, fro ...

, including Best Motion Picture – Drama.

Interpretations

In his critical comments on the film and after noting Scorsese's many contributions to the mobster and gangster film genre, Nicholas Rapold of the Lincoln Center Film Society interpreted the main themes of the film to deal more with the subject of the remorseless sociopathic and psychopathic killer than with themes directly related to

organized crime Organized crime (or organised crime) is a category of transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally th ...

. After comparing the film to David Cronenberg's ''

A History of Violence ''A History of Violence'' is a 2005 action thriller film directed by David Cronenberg and written by Josh Olson. It is an adaptation of the 1997 graphic novel of the same title by John Wagner and Vince Locke. The film stars Viggo Mortensen, ...

'', Rapold stated:

, writing for ''The New Yorker'', found the film to be a dark allegory of American politics and American society, stating: Guillermo del Toro agrees with Brody: In his extended comments on ''The Irishman'', del Toro found the thematic content of the film and its depiction of character development to be comparable to the films of "

Renoir Pierre-Auguste Renoir (; 25 February 1841 – 3 December 1919) was a French artist who was a leading painter in the development of the Impressionist style. As a celebrator of beauty and especially feminine sensuality, it has been said that "Re ...

, Bresson, Bergman, Oliveira or Kurosawa". Using cinematic techniques involving interconnected flashbacks and flashforwards, del Toro found Scorsese's juxtaposition of the "ruthless gangster" depicted in Frank Sheeran with his "diminished, elderly self" as compelling depictions of where "oblivion reigns supreme". Del Toro's thematic emphasis, as he attributes it to Scorsese, is the portrayal of the demise of Sheeran in the frailty of his old age as overshadowing the ruthless and relentless accumulation of his criminal activities which defined his more youthful years, with old age transforming Sheeran into a forgotten shadow of his former self.

References

External links

* *
Irishman: The Wages of Loyalty''
an essay by

Geoffrey O’Brien Geoffrey O'Brien (born 1948 New York City, New York) is an American poet, editor, book and film critic, translator, and cultural historian. In 1992, he joined the staff of the Library of America as executive editor, becoming editor-in-chief in 19 ...

at the Criterion Collection {{DEFAULTSORT:Irishman, The 2010s biographical films 2019 films 2019 crime films 2010s American films 2010s English-language films American crime films American epic films Cultural depictions of Jimmy Hoffa Cultural depictions of Robert F. Kennedy Cultural depictions of the Mafia English-language Netflix original films Fiction with unreliable narrators Films about bodyguards Films about old age Films about the American Mafia Films based on biographies Films based on non-fiction books about organized crime Films directed by Martin Scorsese Films produced by Irwin Winkler Films produced by Martin Scorsese Films produced by Robert De Niro Films scored by Robbie Robertson Films set in Detroit Films set in Harlem Films set in Miami Films set in New York City Films set in Philadelphia Films set in the 1940s Films set in the 1950s Films set in the 1960s Films set in the 1970s Films set in the 1980s Films set in the 1990s Films set in the 2000s Films set in Washington, D.C. Films shot in New Jersey Films shot in New York City Films with screenplays by Steven Zaillian Irish-American culture in Philadelphia Irish-American mass media