The Irishman (2019 Film)

''The Irishman'' (also known as ''I Heard You Paint Houses'') is a 2019 American epic gangster film directed and produced by Martin Scorsese from a screenplay by Steven Zaillian, based on the 2004 book '' I Heard You Paint Houses'' by Charles Brandt. It stars Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, and Joe Pesci, with Ray Romano, Bobby Cannavale, Anna Paquin, Stephen Graham, Stephanie Kurtzuba, Jesse Plemons, and Harvey Keitel in supporting roles. The film follows Frank Sheeran (De Niro), a truck driver who becomes a hitman involved with mobster Russell Bufalino (Pesci) and his crime family before later working for the powerful Teamster Jimmy Hoffa (Pacino). The film marked the ninth collaboration between Scorsese and De Niro, in addition to Scorsese's sixth collaboration with Harvey Keitel, his fourth collaboration with Joe Pesci; his first with Al Pacino; the fourth collaboration between Pacino and De Niro; and the first collaboration between Pacino and Pesci altogether.

In September 2014, following years of "development hell", ''The Irishman'' was announced as Scorsese's next film after ''Silence'' (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 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, it is the longest film of Scorsese's career.

''The Irishman'' premiered at the 57th New York Film Festival, and had a limited theatrical release on November 1, 2019, followed by a streaming release on November 27, 2019, by Netflix. The film received widespread critical acclaim, with praise for Scorsese's direction, the production and costume design, editing, screenplay, cinematography, and the performances of De Niro, Pacino and Pesci. It was named the Best Film of 2019 by the National Board of Review and one of the top ten films of the year by American Film Institute. The film was nominated for ten categories at the 92nd Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and received numerous other accolades.

Plot

In a nursing home, elderly Irish-American World War II veteran Frank Sheeran recounts his time as a hitman for the Italian-American Mafia.

In 1950s Philadelphia, Sheeran works as a union 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 headed by Angelo Bruno. After the delivery company accuses Sheeran of theft, union lawyer Bill Bufalino gets the case dismissed when Sheeran refuses to name his customers to the judge.

Bill introduces Sheeran to his cousin Russell Bufalino, head of his namesake crime family in Northeastern Pennsylvania. Sheeran begins to carry out jobs for him, as well as members of the South Philadelphia underworld, including "painting houses", a euphemism for contract killing.

Sheeran is soon introduced to Jimmy Hoffa, head of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, who has financial ties with the Northeastern Pennsylvania crime family. He 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; in turn Sheeran becomes his chief bodyguard.

After the 1960 election of John F. Kennedy, Bufalino is thrilled while Hoffa is furious. Kennedy's brother, Robert F. Kennedy, 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.

While Hoffa is in prison, his replacement as Teamsters president, Frank "Fitz" Fitzsimmons, misuses the union's pension fund and gives interest-free loans to the Mafia. Hoffa's relationship with Tony Pro, himself arrested for extortion, also deteriorates beyond repair when Hoffa refuses to help restore his forfeited pension. Hoffa's sentence is commuted by President Richard Nixon in 1971, although he is forbidden from partaking in any Teamsters activities until 1980.

Despite his parole terms, Hoffa undertakes a plan to reclaim his power atop the Teamsters. His 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 pleads with 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 reluctantly informs Sheeran that the dons have become fed up with Hoffa and have sanctioned his murder. Russell further informs Sheeran that he must serve 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.

Hoffa, who had scheduled a meeting at a local restaurant with Tony Pro and Anthony Giacalone, is surprised to see Sheeran arriving late, with Hoffa's unsuspecting foster son Chuckie O'Brien and loan shark Sally Bugs. They tell Hoffa the meeting was moved to a house where Tony Pro and Russell are waiting, so Sheeran is to drive him over there. Entering the house, Hoffa realizes it is empty and that he has been set up. He turns around to leave, at which point Sheeran shoots him dead at point-blank range and leaves the gun on his body by the entrance. After Sheeran departs, two other mobsters wrap up the body and cremate it in secret.

Invoking their Fifth Amendment rights in a grand jury investigation into Hoffa's disappearance, Sheeran, Russell, Tony Pro, and others are eventually convicted and incarcerated on various charges unrelated to Hoffa's murder; all but Sheeran die in prison.

Sheeran is eventually released and placed in a nursing home. He tries to reconcile with his alienated daughters. Peggy, however, suspecting his involvement in Hoffa's disappearance, has since severed all contact with him. Sheeran begins seeing a Catholic priest assigned to the nursing home, who assures him an overall absolution for whatever crimes committed or denied over his lifetime. As the priest leaves, Sheeran asks him to leave the door slightly ajar, emulating one of Hoffa's safety habits.

Cast

Additionally, several actors appear in smaller roles, including Aleksa Palladino as Mary Sheeran, Kevin O'Rourke as John McCullough, Bo Dietl as Joey Glimco, Kate Arrington as Older Connie Sheeran, Jordyn DiNatale as Young Connie Sheeran, Jim Norton as Don Rickles, Al Linea as Sam "Momo" Giancana, Garry Pastore as Albert Anastasia, Daniel Jenkins as E. Howard "Big Ears" Hunt, Paul Ben-Victor as Jake Gottlieb, Patrick Gallo as Anthony "Tony Jack" Giacalone, Jake Hoffman as Allen Dorfman, Ken Clark as James P. Hoffa, Peter Jay Fernandez as Cecil B. Moore, Jeff Moore as Frank Church, Gino Cafarelli as Frank Rizzo, and Robert Funaro as Johnny, a Friendly Lounge bartender. Unnamed roles include Jonathan Morris and James Martin as priests, Action Bronson as a casket salesman, Vinny Vella as a meat company yard manager, Matt Walton as a TV host, Dascha Polanco as a nurse, and J. C. MacKenzie as federal prosecutor James F. Neal.

Production

Development

In an interview with ''The Guardian'', Scorsese mentioned that the original contemplation of this project started in the 1980s, stating: "Bob e Niroand 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'' and the sequel ''Two Weeks in Another Town''. 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 Joe Pesci.

''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'' (2011), '' The Wolf of Wall Street'' (2013) and ''Silence'' (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 defined the project as "the coming together of people that have worked together since we're kids together", while Jane 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 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, 20th Century Fox, and Lionsgate, 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. Netflix 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 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 book 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, which appeared in ''The New York Review of Books''. 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 Ray Romano also joining and Bobby Cannavale and Harvey Keitel 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, Jeremy Luke, Joseph Russo, Kathrine Narducci, Danny Abeckaser, J. C. MacKenzie, and Craig Vincent joined the cast. In October, Gary Basaraba, Anna Paquin, Welker White, and Jesse Plemons joined the cast of the film. Later, Craig Di Francia and Action Bronson were revealed to have joined the cast. Sebastian Maniscalco and Paul Ben-Victor 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''; the fourth film to star both De Niro and Pacino (following ''The Godfather Part II'', ''Heat,'' and '' Righteous Kill''); the seventh to star both De Niro and Pesci (following ''Raging Bull'', ''Once Upon a Time in America'', '' Goodfellas'', ''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 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 e Nirosaid, '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

Principal photography 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 in Salisbury Mills and Suffern, among other sites, including Paterson, New Jersey

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