Netflix Nourishment: 19th Edition

Share This Post

THE IRISHMAN

Martin Scorsese is back in business with the Mob in this epic crime drama of American violence and those who call the shots change the landscape of our country. The legendary filmmaker has been down this path before, but this cinematic walk with the Mafia is different. The lavish lifestyle is left for dead. The brutal truth of lives cut short and never outrunning your sins is front and center. As Frank Sheeran, Robert De Niro is the best he’s ever been playing a hitman who rises in the ranks by doing what he’s told. The man he answers to is Russell Bufalino, portrayed with quiet ferocity by Joe Pesci. These two men sharing scenes again is a sight to see.

Sheeran eventually finds his way to befriending Jimmy Hoffa. Al Pacino plays Hoffa and is a tour-de-force as the Teamsters Union president who was more popular than Elvis and The Beatles. His death is still a mystery as his body was never found, but you’re shown what may have happened. Whether it’s true or not, Scorsese isn’t trying to solve anything – he’s showing us men who lived by the gun and have nothing to show for it when it’s all said and done. The runtime is a bit rough, but never boring as a trio of outstanding performances and a director who knows a thing a two about gangsters give us a retrospective, thoughtful film of wiseguys withering away with nothing but their  wrongdoings to keep them company.

I LOST MY BODY

This dreamlike animation takes you on a strange trip where a severed hand with a handful of memories is in search of the body it once belonged to. Not dependent on dialogue, the kinetic five jointed digits get adventurous as it puts up unimaginable fights. It’s this part of the story that is most curious and involving. The other part dealing with a pizza boy named Naoufel who comes off creepy as he falls for librarian Gabrielle is a love story that doesn’t liven things up. It’s unarguably uneven, yet director Jérémy Clapin hands down presents lovely animation, and in its final stretch provides a meaningful message of loss and letting go of the past with the one hand you have left.

MARRIAGE STORY

The devastation of divorce is exquisitely captured with great enrage and empathy by writer/director Noah Baumbach. Hurt and humor bounce around the ruins of a relationship, showing how both sides are excruciatingly effected when the time comes to call it quits while still trying to be parents. The film is an honest, powerful portrait of a family that’s fallen apart and what life is like when building separate lives with fresh scars showing. Your heart takes a pummeling. Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson are divine, uncovering the intricate layers of love one goes through each second of every day with indelible vulnerability and raw emotion. Their performances are gracious and explosive – which sums up this story’s give and take on the beauty and resentment of a partnership that was meant to last.

Brandon Vick is a member of The Music City Film Critics’ Association, the resident film critic of the SoBros Network, and the star of The Vick’s Flicks Podcast. Follow him on Twitter @SirBrandonV and be sure to search #VicksFlicks for all of his latest movie reviews.

Check out the SoBros Shop. Become a Patron. Give us money for no reason. Like us on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter @SoBrosNetwork. Watch on YouTube.

Subscribe To Our Newsletter

Get updates and learn from the best

More To Explore