It's been a long time since Martin Scorsese has done a film like this. Or has it? In terms of this style and subject matter there have been many glimpses of it since Casino, most notably in narration driven stories like The Wolf of Wall Street. Many of his films are less about crime and more about the characters after all, even when extortion and violence is placed front and centre. They often mix a variety of tones and a confessional perspective to deliver relatable human drama. But it has been long time since this director and these actors have been together, and as a result this could just be one last hurrah for his decade spanning stories as well as one last team up with Robert De Niro, and Joe Pesci. The interesting part is how all the intervening years have affected his approach.
In his first underworld tale Mean Streets there was a quirky caption for each of the main characters, a kind of visual flourish that lent it all a kind of scrap book texture. That kind of touch returns here, but for different reasons. In this case the text on screen shows us that these are real people, giving the story a history lesson flavour. However it's also accompanied by a note on how they died, including just how few years later it was and just how many bullets to the head they took. The youthful style and streetwise energy has matured, and the story as a whole feels like a retrospective look at the toll this sort of lifestyle has on those involved. It's also serves as a recurring signal that the spectre of death is following all of these people throughout the narrative.
Frank Sheeran (Robert De Niro) sits in a retirement home without friends or family, his huge spectacles and white hair reflecting both his advanced age and his lack of status. He's our single point of view and a pretty unreliable narrator to say the least. But this is his story after all, and from a wheelchair he spins a yarn about crime bosses like Russell Bufalino (Joe Pesci) and union leaders like Jimmy Hoffa (Al Pacino). Just as his work as a truck driver becomes entangled with mob activity, these two figures clash as the story unfolds. It's a tale in which there are many grey areas, but some of them are much darker than others, and as the 1950s goes by Frank moves from opportunistic thief to hired killer.
While Goodfellas might have presented this as a world in which any young kid could fall into by chance, this is a more sombre affair for the most part. It's more introspective and less glossy, and the confessional elements are more literal in some cases. It's a story full of real life political manoeuvring and shady business deals, and there are hints at Frank's involvement in the Bay of Pigs invasion and the deaths of various historical figures. It treads carefully to avoid being a conspiracy theory film, but it also uses plenty of news reel footage and newspaper headlines to give the story an authentic feel. In fact the construction of the film is excellent in general from the gliding camerawork to the editing for both tense and humorous moments.
The tone might be pretty stoic in general, but there are still all the expected period pop tunes and macabre visual gags. Some sequences involving a riverbed full of guns, a wood chipper, and a extended argument about a frozen fish stand out as being just glib enough to keep this all being a completely bleak affair. The arrival of mobster Tony 'Pro' Provenzano (Stephen Graham) is often a source of both tension and levity as his disputes with Hoffa involve matters that are both trivial and life threatening. In fact the film is filled with moments like this including a suspense sequence involving car bombs (nodding to Casino) and the slow build up to Frank's attempt to destroy a laundry business.
There's a lot going on in what is an enormous three and half hour running time, but most of the pieces are engaging thanks to great film making a great actors. The cast in particular is a stellar ensemble, though the standouts are probably Graham and Pesci. The latter in particular lends his role as the 'old man' of the crime family an understated kind of malice, part father figure and part ruthless gangster. It's a subtle performance worlds away from the sudden eruptions of uncontrollable violence that made him a household name thanks to Scorsese in the 1990s. The less is more approach might not apply to the length of the film, but his quiet conversations with De Niro about certain unavoidable tasks are given gravity and emotional weight with very few words.
In general the cast is all great with each character lending the story a different facet. Notably Frank's daughter Peggy (Anna Paquin) serves as a constant reminder that his lifestyle isn't healthy. She barely says a word throughout as a child and an adult later in life, but the impact of a simple look is often felt. His inability to understand what her problem is through the years is what makes the title character interesting, both as a father and a hired thug. Even talking to a priest later life in he's unsure if he feels remorse, and there's a kind of pitiable ignorance which grows throughout the film. It's a really long story that probably needs a traditional intermission, but the way it builds to the central message hits with measured finesse as the closing scenes arrive. It's not an action packed finale, but it's no less compelling.
The story might effectively deal with an expansive time frame, but the visual effects used to depict the actors at different stages of life is less effective. At least during the earliest parts of the narrative. It's not weird in a Rogue One or Ant-Man kind of way, but there's just something off about the way Frank and Russ look in some scenes. They've done work to make sure movement and vocal performances are altered suitably but it's never one hundred percent convincing. There's just something about the eyes and the physical movement, particularly during a sequence where Frank attacks a grocery store owner. As time goes on the actors look more appropriate, so admittedly it's not a major issue and a lot of work as gone into all of this. But I feel like slightly odd makeup is always better than slightly odd CGI.
Still, the end result is an engrossing story about whether crime and altruism a really a good match. Jimmy Hoffa seems like an admirable figure but ends up hiring Frank, paying for suspicious business projects and trying to interfere with court cases. Frank on the other hand just wants to help his kids; he just doesn't seem to get why this is the worst way to go about it. The real workings of the Teamsters and the relationship with the Kennedy family are fascinating elements, but the core of the story is all these character moments. It might be a less flashy, less violent film that his earlier work, but it's certainly more well rounded project. His contemporaries might have lost their edge or succumbed to the lure of computer graphics to the detriment of their work, but Scorsese seems to show little sign of slowly down. It's a monolithic decade spanning story that may at times make you feel like you're ageing with these characters, but it's well worth investing your time.
4/5
BONUS REVIEW
DOLEMITE IS MY NAME (2019)
Eddie Murphy meanwhile is staging his own comeback with a similar 1970s period piece. The reality of the events being depicted is far more dubious, but the results are consistently entertaining. It's less a history lesson and more of a classic underdog story. Rudy Ray Moore (Murphy) is portrayed as a washed up singer introducing new more popular acts at a Los Angeles nightclub. What he really wants his a fresh chance at the lime light, which he soon finds after becoming a stand-up star and releasing a comedy album. Recorded and distributed by himself of course. Soon he's touring with his new routine in the persona of 'Dolemite', a rhyming pimp talked about by local homeless man. But he has greater aspirations and begins to plan a big screen version of the character.
The combination of clueless but unflappable entertainer has been done before of course, and it's clear that the writing team (who worked on Tim Burton's Ed Wood) are using a variety of old staples. But while it's never challenging it's certainly full of charm. Moore's rise to the top isn't a glamorous affair as he turns a derelict hotel in both a studio, a sound stage and a make-shift apartment. But he's undeterred by his lack of his experience or money. The crew may be film students and the building has wiring problems and broken floorboards, but they're going to make a movie even if nobody will screen it. This isn't going to be anything like that lame Jack Lemmon movie he saw with his friends, it's going to have nudity and kung-fu.
Actor D'Urville Martin (Wesley Snipes) is coaxed into the production with the promise of directing, and theatre writer Jerry Jones (Keegan-Michael Key) thinks he's going to be involved in a vital story about problems in the community. The former is not impressed after working on real film sets while the latter has to dissuade Moore from including any Exorcist style scenes in their grounded story. But it's these moments that give everyone involved a moment to shine, particularly when some of them have been away from a great movie for so long. The depiction of the final product, 1975's Dolemite, might be less than accurate and the story borrows moments from a few of Moore's later movies. But this is probably the one chance to do this and they wanted to add these extra moments.
Ultimately the film makers have a clear vision of how they're going to portray these events and they stick with that tone all the way through. In a similar way the depiction of the characters might be foul mouthed and sometimes grating, but it's generally a very light affair. There's a sense the people involved could have been depicted as more desperate and their situation could have been grittier. However the result is a movie anyone can enjoy without having any former knowledge of this period of B-movie history. Those who have seen the subject film or Rudy Ray Moore's other performances will get an extra kick out of all this, but it's an easy recommendation for anyone who likes Eddy Murphy being charismatic, movies about low budget film making, or comedy in general.
4/5
