The Irishman: Netflix Movie

The three mobsters in the Irishman wait for an order

Brodie Lyons, Staffer

The Irishman is a movie that was just released by Netflix. The movie is about the mob or mafia around local areas including Philadelphia, Wilkes-Barre, and Northeastern Pennsylvania. The 3 main characters are Frank “The Irishman” Sheeran (played by Robert De Niro), Russell Bufalino (played by Joe Pesci) and Jimmy Hofa (played by Al Pacino) and others that help with the mob. The movie is based on the book I Heard You Paint Houses, in which Frank Sheeran tells the author, Charles Brandt, about his accounts of the mob. Frank was a war veteran that learned Italian while battling in Italy that delivered meat for a job. He then hired a lawyer due to an acquisition. His lawyer was a Bufalino and helped him win the case. During the same night while celebrating his victory, he was met by Russell Bufalino, the mob boss of Wilkes-Barre, Scranton, Pittston, and most of Pennsylvania, and told him that he should join the mob. Frank then joined the mob and got the nickname “The Irishman” due to being near the top of the mob and being the only man of Irish descent in it. The movie describes the way Frank rose with Russ to the top and how the two of them got to know Jimmy Hofa better. 

My favorite part of the movie is when the dinner honoring Frank goes bad. The mob bosses tell Frank to tell their friend, Jimmy, to stop changing or else he would be killed. Two years later, Russ tells Frank to have a “meeting” with Jimmy while they are going to Detroit for Jimmy’s daughter’s wedding. There are also many other amazing parts to the movie. Since it is 3 hours and 30min long, the level of detail is extremely high. Other good parts include all of Russ and Frank’s hits and the time Frank meets Jimmy. The first thing Jimmy said to Frank was, “I heard you paint houses,” which in the mob means, “I hear you kill people,” with the paint referring to the blood. 

Since this movie describes how the mob works the film is very interesting. Due to all the strong language, murders, and all of the committed crimes, I would recommend it to be 14+.