Thank you, Baldo. I'll be spending more time here now. But not so much in the OC threads. Just a personal choice at this stage of my life. Anywhooooooo........

I thought they were pretty much all on the spot with a few minor exceptions. Those first. I already mentioned DeNiro in the grocery store scene looking silly. But there was one other. When he was tossing the guns in the Hudson after he killed Gallo, his hands actually stopped a few times. Like he had the yips in golf, or like an arthritic man trying to masturbate lol. BUT, in the scene where he accepted his award, he said he didn't deserve his bursitis, either. I don't think that was an accident. I think Scorsese intentionally wrote that into the script to excuse DeNiro's gait and overall movements. The only miscast actors I saw were minor. Sebastian Maniscaco is a phenomenal comedian, and maybe he'll pick up some acting chops a la Ray Romano some day. And it's not that his acting was off. But I picked up his Chicago accent loud and clear. He LOOKED Brooklyn circa 1972, but he didn't sound it. His Italian American vernacular was over the top. Just my opinion. And I had to laugh at Steven Van Zandt as Jerry Vale. They should have de-aged HIM. And put him on Atkins. Because at the height of his career, Jerry Vale was trim and good looking. But I'm glad they used his real voice. He sang like an angel.

Okay, critique aside. I thought they nailed it. I won't even go into too much detail about the big four (Pacino, DeNiro, Keitel and Pesci). We knew they were gonna bring it. But Pacino ran away with the film. And I'm not fan-boying here, either. His presence was felt in every scene he was in. If this were a two hour film, picking up when Hoffa and Sheeran met, and culminating with Hoffa's disappearance, you could make a case for Pacino having equal billing in the lead. If that were the case, he'd be worthy of Best Actor. But who knows with the Academy? As it stands, he should run away with Best Supporting Actor. But if Pesci gets nominated, too, they might hurt each other and give it away.

Bobby Cannavale was great. He's half-Cuban, half-Italian, and the look comes natural to him. Early on I did a double take. I thought I was looking at Chazz in A Bronx Tale. And he can act, too. He's been around a long time now and deserved to be cast. I just wish there was a spot for Ray Liotta. I mean, I guess Marty didn't wanna make such a broad comparison to Goodfellas, but there were a few bit actors from the former film in The Irishman. And Ray Romano shocked the shit outta me. I mean Everybody Loves Raymond, but that's what I was afraid of, Ray Barone as a mob lawyer. I was dead wrong. He was fantastic.

Incredible film. I'd place it just above Casino and right there behind Raging Bull and Goodfellas. But that's in the Scorsese universe so it's not even fair. Because in the end, it was a better film than what 90 percent of the rest of Hollywood puts out these days.

Four stars.