After seventeen years of teasing audiences from around the world, Martin Scorsese creates another jaw-dropping mafia film. Based off the book I Heard You Paint Houses, by Charles Brandt, The Irishman takes you back to the time when mafias lurked around every corner.

The Irishman takes place from the ’50s to ’70s and explains the disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa, a labor union leader, in 1975. The protagonist, Frank Sheeran, is first introduced as an Irish truck driver who meets Italian mafia leader Russell Bufalino. Over the three-and-a-half-hour long movie, the relationship between Sheeran and Bufalino becomes stronger and more complex. Based off a true story, The Irishman shows the true nature and brutality of the mafia in the United States.

Because the main actors are in their seventies, the creators of The Irishman used CGI to make them look in their late forties. Although the CGI did the job of making Robert De Niro (Frank Sheeran), Al Pacino (Jimmy Hoffa) and Joe Pesci (Russell Bufalino) look like the age of the actual people they are portraying, there are minor flaws that are not pleasing to look at. Throughout the movie, Pacino’s eyes switch from blue to brown, and De Niro’s eyes are purple in many of the close up shots.

With their experience in mafia movies, De Niro, Pesci and Pacino all do an exquisite job portraying their characters. Since they are made to look younger, the three actors had to adopt new mannerisms to match their ages. In an interview with Jimmy Kimmel, Martin Scorsese said Al Pacino had a hard time in one scene where he had to get up fast because of his age, but still manages to execute the scene perfectly. Scorsese also said he had to beg Pecsi to come out of retirement and be in the film.

The Irishman has other A-List actors like Ray Romano (Bill Bufalino), Harvey Keitel (Angelo Bruno) and Anna Paquin (Peggy Sheeren), who is the youngest person to win an Oscar. The movie is filled with cameos like comedian Sebation Maniscalco (Joseph Gallo) and Emmy-nominee Jesse Plemons (Chuckie O’Brien).

The Irishman has scenes that should be removed to make the movie much shorter, and the CGI could be improved. The overall cinematography is beautiful, capturing an authentic look of the time. Although the dialogue is filled with mafia references like “I heard you paint houses” and deep conversations about politics, the film is easy to understand.

Although it was in theaters for a limited amount of time, The Irishman made its way onto Netflix, allowing people to watch it in the comfort of their homes. In the first five days of being released on Netflix, 17.1 million people watched the film.

Once again, Martin Scorsese brings the mafia-movie-loving community together with The Irishman.