History Film / TheIrishman

* DoubleMeaningTitle: There are multiple Irishmen involved in the plot: the [[PointOfView viewpoint character]] Frank Sheeran, labor union leader Jimmy Hoffa, President John F. Kennedy, and John's brother Robert F. Kennedy.

* {{Deconstruction}}[=/=]GenreDeconstruction: Quite possibly one of the bitterest, most depressing deconstructions ever filmed of the ''entire'' Mafioso mythos:
** If associating with hostile criminals, making tough decisions, ruining your life, and killing a great friend is not enough, in the end, all you get in the modern day is to create resentment among your loved ones and live a lonely life.
** [[https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20191107-is-the-irishman-the-end-of-the-gangster-movie-as-we-know-it This article]] emphasizes how well the last half-hour of the movie deconstructs the aftermath of the classic American Mafia, particularly from Mafia movies like ''Film/GoodFellas'' where the aftermath of said lifestyle in modern times is never shown. The result of such deconstruction is an incredibly depressing epilogue to the genre. In many ways, the film undermines what came before, and the central characters don't go out in a blaze of glory. Instead, [[AlasPoorVillain they march towards a lonely and desiccated retirement where everything they worked for means nothing for modern times]]. The movie drives home relentlessly how men like Frank, Russell, Jimmy, and other wiseguys are nothing but a pitiful shadow of what they once were. In other words, they are just people who belong to the past. All these attributes make this film one of the ''biggest'' deconstructions ever made of the Mafia genre, which is especially remarkable considering that Scorsese's own ''[=GoodFellas=]'' was already a deconstruction of its own film genre (albeit one that was nevertheless accused of still making it look quite cool), yet this film takes things to a new level of deconstruction, especially in the downfall of the classic American Mafia.
** Frank Sheeran himself is a DeconstructedCharacterArchetype of characters such as [[Film/GoodFellas Henry Hill and Jimmy "The Gent" Conway]], showing just how miserable and pitiful a man like them could become if they reached old age and lived in modern times.

** Joe Pesci plays Russell Bufalino. At some point in early 1961, Russell instructs Frank to go to Baltimore to pick up a shipment from "a [[PoliticallyIncorrectVillain fairy]]" (i.e., gay man). This guy turns out to be David Ferrie, who would later be associated with the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Guess who portrayed David Ferrie in Creator/OliverStone's 1991 film ''Film/{{JFK}}'', which depicted the JFK investigation?

* DownerEnding: [[spoiler:Frank murders Jimmy Hoffa and, with the help of Bufalino family associates, gets away with it. Unfortunately, Frank's daughter Peggy, who became friendly with Hoffa, realizes what her father has done, and never speaks to him again. Frank's relationships with his other daughters also suffers. Eventually, Frank's wife and all his friends and associates predecease him, and with his children no longer speaking to him, he is destined to die alone in a nursing home. Furthermore, the march of time means that barely anyone remembers or cares about Jimmy Hoffa and the events leading to his disappearance, [[ShaggyDogStory rendering Frank's actions meaningless]].]]

* DownerEnding: [[spoiler:Frank murders Jimmy Hoffa and, with the help of Bufalino family associates, gets away with it. Unfortunately, Frank's daughter Peggy, who became friendly with Hoffa, realizes what her father has done, and never speaks to him again. Frank's relationships with his other daughters also suffers. Eventually, Frank's wife and all his friends and associates predecease him, and with his children no longer speaking to him, he is destined to die alone in a nursing home.]]

->''"When I was young, I thought house painters painted houses. What did I know? I was a working guy. A business agent for Teamster Local 107 out of South Philly. One of a thousand working stiffs... until I wasn't no more. And then I started painting houses myself."''

->''"When I was young, I thought house painters painted houses. What did I know? I was a working guy. A business agent for Teamster Local 107 out of South Philly. One of a thousand working stiffs... until I wasn't no more. And then I started painting houses... myself."''

->''"I ain't going nowhere"''

->''"You can't miss the big picture."''

->''"Big business and the government are working together, trying to pull us apart. Something's got to be done."''
-->-- '''Jimmy Hoffa'''

* PyrrhicVillainy: You're a big bad, feared hitman, Frank? You kept your mouth shut like a good mafioso and did your time in the slammer? Where's it gotten you? [[spoiler:All your friends are dead, some at your own hand. Your family despises you and won't have anything to do with you. You're alone, forced to plan your own funeral because nobody else cares. The world's moved on and forgotten you, leaving you stuck in a nursing home to waste away slowly till death claims you]]. WasItReallyWorthIt

** [[https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20191107-is-the-irishman-the-end-of-the-gangster-movie-as-we-know-it This article]] emphasizes how well the last half-hour of the movie deconstructs the aftermath of the classic American Mafia, particularly from Mafia movies like ''Film/GoodFellas'' where the aftermath of said lifestyle in modern times is never shown. The result of such deconstruction is an incredibly depressing epilogue to the genre. In many ways, the film undermines what came before, and the central characters don't go out in a blaze of glory. Instead, [[AlasPoorVillain they march towards a lonely and desiccated retirement where everything they worked for means nothing for modern times]]. The movie drives home relentlessly how men like Frank, Russell, Jimmy, and other wiseguys are nothing but a pitiful shadow of what they once were. In other words, they are just people who belong to the past. All these attributes make this film one of the ''biggest'' deconstructions ever made of the Mafia genre, which is especially remarkable considering that Scorsese's own ''[=GoodFellas=]'' was already a deconstruction of its own film genre (albeit one that was nevertheless accused of still making it look quite cool), yet this film takes things [[UpToEleven to a new level]] of deconstruction, especially in the downfall of the classic American Mafia.

** For most of the Kennedy family except for [[UsefulNotes/RobertFKennedy Bobby Kennedy]] (who hated Hoffa every bit as much as the movie shows). Kennedy patriarch Joe Sr. is explicitly tied with the Mafia and helped rig John Kennedy's first election to Congress. While Joe Kennedy's relationship with the mob is still, claims that he worked as a bootlegger himself are generally considered a myth. The film repeats rumors of rigging the 1960 presidential election to swing Illinois to Jack by Sam Giancana, a claim which is [[https://www.constitutioncenter.org/blog/the-drama-behind-president-kennedys-1960-election-win/ widely believed]], but probably impossible to prove.
** UsefulNotes/RichardNixon is a regular golf buddy with Fitz, the leader of the Teamsters and a stooge of the Mafia. Nixon did cultivate an alliance with the Teamsters, and was alleged to have pardoned Hoffa in exchange for illegal campaign donations in 1972. [[note]]something Sheeran's book expands upon considerably, as he claimed to have worked as a go-between for payments between the Teamsters and Nixon's campaign[[/note]]
On the other hand, crime historians Jeff Burbank [[https://themobmuseum.org/blog/were-richard-nixons-alleged-ties-to-organized-crime-real-or-mere-speculation/ notes]] that while Nixon had second degree connections with organized crime[[note]]Notably his closest friend, businessman Bebe Rebozo, was widely suspected of having close ties to organized crime in Miami.[[/note]] and certainly was a CorruptPolitician in his own right, he also prosecuted a number of leading mob bosses and pushed for passage of the RICO Act.

** For most of the Kennedy family except for [[UsefulNotes/RobertFKennedy Bobby Kennedy]] (who hated Hoffa every bit as much as the movie shows). Kennedy patriarch Joe Sr. is explicitly tied with the Mafia and helped rig John Kennedy's first election to Congress. The film repeats rumors of rigging the 1960 presidential election to swing Illinois to Jack by Sam Giancana, a claim which is [[https://www.constitutioncenter.org/blog/the-drama-behind-president-kennedys-1960-election-win/ widely believed]], but probably impossible to prove.
** UsefulNotes/RichardNixon is a regular golf buddy with Fitz, the leader of the Teamsters and a stooge of the Mafia. Crime historian Jeff Burbank [[https://themobmuseum.org/blog/were-richard-nixons-alleged-ties-to-organized-crime-real-or-mere-speculation/ notes]] that while Nixon had second degree connections with organized crime through his friends and business associates, he also prosecuted a number of leading mob bosses and pushed for passage of the RICO Act.

* PyrrhicVillainy: You're a big bad, feared hitman, Frank? You kept your mouth shut like a good mafioso and did your time in the slammer? Where's it gotten you? [[spoiler:All your friends are dead, some at your own hand. Your family despises you and won't have anything to do with you. You're alone, forced to plan your own funeral because nobody else cares. The world's moved on and forgotten you, leaving you stuck in a nursing home to waste away slowly till death claims you. Was it really worth it?]]

* WhoShotJFK: JFK's assassination is a key plot point in the film, though the story refrains from speculating who was responsible for it; the closest the film gets is when Russ implies to Frank the mob did it due to Kennedy's "betrayal" of them. Hoffa dismisses this as "fairy tales" and the film never outright confirms it.

* ArtisticLicenseLaw: At the end, when Frank and Russell are eating bread and drinking grape juice together in the prison mess hall, the grape juice is in a glass bottle. They wouldn't be allowed to have a glass bottle in prison, it's a potential weapon.

* ActorAllusion: Joe Pesci plays Russell Bufalino. At some point in early 1961, Russell instructs Frank to go to Baltimore to pick up a shipment from "a [[PoliticallyIncorrectVillain fairy]]" (i.e., gay man). This guy turns out to be David Ferrie, who would later be associated with the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Guess who portrayed David Ferrie in Creator/OliverStone's 1991 film ''Film/{{JFK}}'', which depicted the JFK investigation?

* TheLastOfTheseIsNotLikeTheOthers: Over the course of the film subtitles flash on several characters listing the date and (incredibly violent/depressing) causes of their future deaths. The primary exception is Tony Jack, who is listed as "dying of old age in 2001 and by all accounts, well-liked by all".

* AllForNothing: There is a lingering sense of nihilism over the film as we contrast the seeming huge importance of the Mafia power plays with the insignificance of Frank in his old age. [[spoiler:This is made clearer in one of the final scenes where Frank's nurse can't recognize Jimmy Hoffa in a picture and admits to not knowing who he is, showing just how little all this ultimately meant: Jimmy Hoffa, his disappearance and all the incidents around it are ultimately forgotten with the passage of time just like Frank himself.]]

** [[https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20191107-is-the-irishman-the-end-of-the-gangster-movie-as-we-know-it This article]] emphasizes how well the last half-hour of the movie deconstructs the aftermath of the classic American Mafia, particularly from Mafia movies like ''Film/GoodFellas'' where the aftermath of said lifestyle in modern times is never shown. The result of such deconstruction is an incredibly depressing epilogue to the genre. In many ways, the film undermines what came before, and the central characters don't go out in a blaze of glory. Instead, [[AlasPoorVillain they march towards a lonely and desiccated retirement where everything they worked for means nothing for modern times]]. The movie drives home relentlessly how men like Frank, Russell, Jimmy, and other wiseguys are nothing but a pitiful shadow of what they once were. In other words, they are just people who belong to the past. All these attributes make this film one of the ''biggest'' deconstructions ever made of the Mafia genre, which is especially remarkable considering that Scorsese's own ''[=GoodFellas=]'' was already a deconstruction of its own film genre, yet this film takes things [[UpToEleven to a new level]] of deconstruction, especially in the downfall of the classic American Mafia.

* DigYourOwnGrave: A flashback to Frank's Army days shows him supervising two German soldiers doing this, after which he shoots them to death.

** The film glosses over the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Sheeran#War_crimes war crimes]] Sheeran perpetrated.

** Several mob bosses show up who are not connected to the main story, or else only tangentially connected. These are usually accompanied by on-screen text explaining who the person was and their eventual fate (generally a KarmaHoudiniWarranty).