I liked it a lot better the second time i watched it. Everything made more sense and came together. What helped me was turning on the subtitles. The sound mix is terrible, as it is for a lot of movies and shows the last 5 plus years. Seems dialogue is the least important part of the mix for Hollywood these days. The music, the sound effects, bass levels, and background noise are at max volume at the front of the speakers while dialogue is mixed so low to the back. Anyway the movie came together for me once I knew what the hell everyone was saying.
The movie certainly could have used some breathing room with some smaller character moments with Paulie, Pussy, Johnny, and Janice. Don't know why Chase had such a stick up his ass about it being no more than 2 hours. A reaction to "The Irishman"? I wouldn't have wanted it to be that long mind you, but maybe an extra 10 to 30 minutes longer to flesh things out.
The acting was incredible from almost everyone, especially Michael as Tony. He absolutely nailed it! He captured the essence of Tony and dialed it back 30 years. So believable as a teenage Tony. Same with Billy Magnussen as Paulie. So believable as a younger, less neurotic Paulie. Vera Farmiga was awesome.
John Magaro...well he nailed it as Sil. Problem is it's the late middle aged Sil we knew from the series, specifically season 6 when he really became cartoonish, not 20 something Sil. He'll need to work on that for a sequel if there is one.
