The movie is unnecessarily long. There are so many scenes that could easily be done away with. But to add to it a Godfatheresque touch, ace director Scorsese drags it far and far to a point you start feeling bored. The character development of De Niro is brilliant but the same cannot be said about others, particularly John Hoffa or Pacino. On the contrary, acting-wise, De Niro somehow looks nonchalant throughout the movie, while Pacino and Pesci really shine. The de-aging effect through CGI is ludicrous. I mean, these are old men. Just by some effects, you can not make some hepta or octogenarians look young. Had it been released a couple of decades earlier with at least 90 minutes less run-time, it would have been a cult movie. But now it’s late, very late. Watching two legends Pacino and De Niro sharing screen together for so long is a delight though. It’s a good lesson for the highly-rated young actors, too. When people want to see a pair on screen, they do not take a call on it fearing they might lose some fans and when they finally take a call positively at the fag end of their career, they have lost their charm. To conclude, it may be a swansong in the careers of the illustrious actor trio by an ace director who is also past his prime. Only if the effort was a little more fascinating. I will give it 7 out of 10 for the love of the actors and the director.

Written in November, 2019. Available on Netflix.