The Irishman

Frank Sheeran is a World War II veteran turned truck driver in 1956 Pennsylvania who stumbles into the orbit of quiet mob boss Russell Bufalino. Bufalino brings Frank into organized crime, grooming him into a trusted fixer and sending him to Chicago to assist Jimmy Hoffa, a powerful and polarizing union leader with mob ties. Over nearly twenty years the film traces Frank's slow, intimate alliance with Hoffa and the mob, showing how friendships and obligations shift as power, ambition, and secrecy accumulate. The narrative moves through key historical moments while keeping focus on loyalty, aging, and the personal cost of a life built on favors and silence.

Released in 2019, The Irishman was directed by Martin Scorsese, with a screenplay by Steven Zaillian adapted from Charles Brandt's book I Heard You Paint Houses. It reassembles longtime collaborators Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, and Joe Pesci in leading roles.

The film attracted substantial awards attention, earning nominations from major organizations including the Academy Awards. It received recognition across categories such as directing, acting, editing, and technical achievement, and drew nominations from film guilds and critics groups.

Beyond awards, The Irishman made a mark in pop culture by reuniting Scorsese with his signature ensemble and by prompting debate over its use of digital de-aging effects. Its extended running time and elegiac tone sparked conversations about how contemporary cinema portrays age, memory, and the ethics of technological interventions in performance.

Critics and audiences responded strongly to the performances and the film's measured, reflective mood; it holds a 7.58/10 average from 7,285 votes. Reviews praised the actors' chemistry and the film's historical sweep, while some viewers flagged the slow pace. Central themes include loyalty, the erosion of power, the consequences of silence, and the twilight of an era in American organized labor and crime.