The Irishman
conduct by Martin Scorsese , The Irishmanbears many thematic similarities toGoodfellas , and both films immediately cite a real - lifespan mobster known as “ Crazy Joe ” . BothGoodfellasandThe Irishmanare based on real stories about unreliable narrators . ForGoodfellas , Scorsese conform Nicholas Pileggi ’s 1985 bookWiseguy , an account of the mobster - grow - informant Henry Hill , portrayed by Ray Liotta .
The storyline detail the bailiwick ’s ducking into the New York City underworld as a stripling during the ‘ 60s , and his professional relationship with “ The Irishman ” Jimmy Burke , who was renamed Jimmy Conway inGoodfellasand portrayed byRobert De Niro . Scorsese ’s 2019 filmThe Irishmanfocuses on an entirely dissimilar soul , Frank “ The Irishman ” Sheeran ( De Niro ) , whose life story and slaying confession were detail in Charles Brandt ’s 2004 bookI Heard You Paint Houses . The Netflix adjustment shows how Sheeran run into Philadelphia mobster Russell Bufalino ( Joe Pesci ) , and later developed a strained family relationship with Teamsters leader Jimmy Hoffa ( Al Pacino ) .
Related : The Irishman Cast & Character Guide
Midway throughThe Irishman , Hoffa encounter with gangster Tony “ Tony Pro ” Provenzano ( Stephen Graham ) in gaol . As Santo & Johnny ’s “ Sleep Walk ” plays , the moving picture changeover to Sheeran recalling about how“right then , you knew it was all gon na come down apart,”which sets up a slow movement sequence about the June 1971 public shooting of mob Bos Joseph Columbo ( the shot was believed to have been ordered by Joe Gallo aka Crazy Joe ; a adult male named Jerome Johnson was the gun ) . This is The Irishman ’s quotation to the early ‘ 70s event that in the end leave to Crazy Joe ’s April 1972 assassination at Umberto ’s Clam House in Manhattan ’s Little Italy . The affair is , inGoodfellas , Crazy Joe ’s early ‘ 60s warfare with the Profacis is also referenced .
InGoodfellas , De Niro ’s unveiling as Conway is straight predate by a extension to Joe Gallo . Henry , through voiceover yarn , reflect about a“glorious time”when the wise guys were“all over the place”and“before Crazy Joe decided to take on a gaffer and start a war . ”Seconds later , De Niro appears and the film properly kicks off for a floor about when Henry“first met the world . ”The Crazy Joe mention quotation when Gallo - a hitman for the Profaci offence family - led an rebellion against his bosses and attempted a mass kidnapping . He then proceeded to essay more top executive , and started a proper gangland state of war . In 1961 , Gallo was convicted of extortion and spent the next decade in the Attica Correction Facility . When he returned to New York in 1971 , he had shape jailhouse relationships with African - Americans ( include Nicky Barnes ) and play by his own normal once again . This is the backdrop for the extensive Gallo sequence in Scorsese’sThe Irishman .
In realism , Gallo ’s murder was never work . ButThe Irishmanis base on Sheeran ’s confession that he not only dispatch Hoffa , but also killed Crazy Joe . After the Colombo slo - bit succession , Bufalino discusses the Columbo shooting with Sheeran , who - through voiceover story - states that“there ’s only one guy that would have the ball , the nerve , the audacity to do that . “Enter Sebastian Maniscalco as Gallo , who have just about five minutes of filmdom time inThe Irishman . Scorsese , in another nod to a past classic , recreates a famousTaxi Drivergun sequence as Sheeran prepare to run Crazy Joe .
Next : The Irishman Ending Explained ( In Detail )
