Improving with age
As we are a nation which loves a bet, it’s worth getting a price now on a film which sounds as though it’s one of our own sweeping the film awards in 2020.
Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman tells the life story of Philadelphia mobster Frank Sheeran, descended from an Irish Catholic on his father’s side, and the part he played in the career and death of Jimmy Hoffa, the notorious and charismatic head of the teamsters union in ’60s America.
Much has been made of the use of CGI techniques to ‘de-age’ the actors but the truth of the matter is that the three principals — Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, and Joe Pesci — have all got their A-games on show with memorable and mesmerising performances.
All three are in their 70s, and while the film is imbued with a melancholy about the impact that advancing years can have on individuals, we can be left in no doubt that older people can still hack it.
In a society which often appears to be obsessed with youth, that is a message well worth promulgating.
