Film Preview: The Irishman (2019)

Page Revisions:

(March 3, 2019) Original
(August 4, 2019) New Trailer (#2)
(September 29, 2019) New Trailer (#3) / New Poster (#1) / New Release Date (Changed from “Coming Soon”)
(November 24, 2019) New Trailer (#4)

Release Date:

November 27, 2019

Synopsis:

From IMDb: “A mob hitman recalls his possible involvement with the slaying of Jimmy Hoffa.”

Poster Rating: C

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Review: The actors are known quantities, but the background details and the poses along with the poorly chosen color scheme make for an ill-advised and unimpressive design.

Trailer Rating: B / B+ / B+ / B

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Review: (#1) This is just a teaser. There are no images from the film, just a single bullet falling away through the title and actor names. There’s some dialogue overlaid on the trailer and it teases the involvement of Robert De Niro (if his name on screen didn’t already) with a solid effort. It will be interesting to see if subsequent trailers can accomplish something.

(#2) What gives this trailer its defining qualities is how assured it feels. From the musical underscore to the simple narrative conveyed through a phone conversation. Any fan of Scorsese or of the films he used to make should be enticed by this trailer.

(#3) This trailer does a lot more than the first and about the same as the second in establishing the film’s purpose and stakes, which will help ensure Scorsese fans turn out to the film even if others will be a little more reticent.

(#4) The epic film gets an epic trailer that takes the audience from beginning to end with plenty of subtle nods to the crime films of the past, including Scorsese’s own. It will appeal to fans of the genre and the director, but not likely many others.

Oscar Prospects:

Martin Scorsese. Steven Zaillian. Robert De Niro. Al Pacino. Joe Pesci. Harvey Keitel. Toss in Anna Paquin and you have a very Oscar-heavy group of individuals. That’s 35 Oscar nominations and seven Oscars between them. It’s a mob film directed by Martin Scorsese and has been hotly anticipated for a few years now. If there’s no surer Oscar contender this year, I’d be surprised. Throw in cinematography by two-time Oscar nominee Rodrigo Prieto, seven-time nominee and two-time winning editor Thelma Schoonmaker, and costumes by fourteen-time Oscar nominee and three-time winner Sandy Powell. That brings the tally to 58 nominations and 12 Oscars.