If you're lucky enough to live in a city where movie theaters play nice with Netflix, you may have had a chance to see Martin Scorsese's The Irishman on the big screen over the past few weeks. We certainly did here in Austin! Team BMD assembled for a screening of the film at the Alamo Drafthouse two weekends ago, at which time many Bloody Mary's were consumed and no ass was left un-numbed. Scorsese's latest is a great big sprawling epic, one that winds its way through several decades (and no few deaths!) over the course of its three-and-a-half-hour runtime, and it felt like a real privilege to be able to see it presented as the filmmaker surely intended: on a giant screen bolstered by an excellent sound system.
Unfortunately, many people will not have this privilege. Most people, in fact, will be catching The Irishman in their living rooms (or [full body shudder goes here] on their preferred mobile devices) when the film lands on Netflix later this month. In a final push to sell those folks on what must be considered one of the year's most towering cinematic achievements, Netflix has released a final trailer for the film...and I gotta say, this one's easily the best yet.
Check it out:
That looks great, right? It is! The Irishman's an incredible piece of work, using its enormous runtime to mark the passage of time for one Frank Sheeran (Robert DeNiro), a low-level crook turned mob hitman who works his way through the ranks to become one of Jimmy Hoffa's (an excellent Al Pacino) most trusted allies and enforcers. Scorsese takes his time showing you how Sheeran's unlikely career came together, endured and eventually arrived at its heartbreaking conclusion (spoilers for anyone who doesn't know who Jimmy Hoffa is, I guess), and while the subject matter is classic Scorsese-in-mafia-mode, the presentation is anything but. There's a sense of melancholy and weight to this film that Scorsese's other mafia movies just didn't have.
Anyway, we think y'all are really gonna enjoy this one. The Irishman hits Netflix on November 27th. Y'all gonna tune in or what? Sound off below.