The Irishman (2019) review

Truck driver Frank Sheeran (Robert De Niro) starts working for Russell Bufalino (Joe Pesci), the head of a crime family, and eventually becomes a bodyguard/enforcer for controversial Union leader Jimmy Hoffa (Al Pacino) ... but when Hoffa starts saying (and doing) things the Mafia doesn't like, Sheeran is given orders to 'deal with him.'  While this is territory Scorsese has gone over in the past so there are clear similarities to previous efforts, he really is a master at showcasing the dangerous life of mobsters and the seediness they get into (it unfolds like a beautiful novel) - notice Sheeran's daughter Peggy (Lucy Gallina as a kid, Anna Paquin as an adult) and her icy presence (she knew from an early age her father was into bad things and acts as a silent judge).  All three leads are simply incredible - CGI was used "as makeup" to age them - but it might be the most nuanced performance I've ever seen from Pesci: normally the hothead, here he's strong yet reserved, and only says what he has to.  Of course, no one to this day is positive what happened to Hoffa - Brandt's non-fiction book asserts he was killed by Sheeran, but that's never been confirmed.  If he did give these dangerous men the kind of lip and defiance Pacino's version of him does, he was begging for cement shoes (or worse).