The Irishman

This is a case of a film where it's reasonable but it could be so much more if it just was tighter or better focused. This isn't a film in a hurry to get anywhere which is ... fine, but it does mean we get a lot of conversations that are rather circular (actually, a few of them feel like bad improv class where nobody's quite ready to call "Scene"). DeNiro's been an actor who's been somewhat uninspired for roughly a decade, and this is him in clumping mode. There's stronger support from Pesci (who plays in a quieter mode than his 90s heyday but is quite good at quiet menace), Pacino (who is, admittedly, slightly in scenery-eating mode as Jimmy Hoffa, but he does at least bring the film to life when it's getting a bit aimless), and, surprisingly, Ray Romano (who's very good at shifty-lawyering). There's some strong scene-to-scene work here but there's also an overload of gangster-plots-and-counterplots which aren't all particularly clearly presented, and there's an overlong anti-climax after this reaches the point where we were all expecting this to go. Also the anti-climax does feature some of the weirdest casting, including a small role for Action Bronson, and a priest being played by a priest which explains why he's so awkward with his dialogue. Honestly, the main reason to see this in a cinema rather than wait for Netflix is that the cinema seating will probably keep you paying attention to the screen rather than allowing you to zone out. Having said all that ... this is not a bad film, it's just an indulgent film and Scorcese has done better, fairly recently.