Warning: This article contains spoilers to The Irishman

At an astonishing 210-minute run from start to finish, finding time for Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman is no easy task – converting the film into a 4-part miniseries, however, is much more manageable. This towering epic, spanning six decades from the grips of World War II all the way to the new Millennium, is a return to form for the Mean Streets and Goodfellas auteur. But the film also marks the welcomed return of Scorsese’s collaborations with longtime veterans Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci, as well as his first with iconic performer Al Pacino.

The Irishman, which also stars such names as Ray Romano, Harvey Keitel, and Anna Paquin, follows the bulk of mobster Frank Sheeran’s (De Niro) life. Told in flashback by the ailing Sheeran, the audience becomes a witness to some of the country’s most infamously unsolved crimes, including the assassination of gangster “Crazy” Joe Gallo and, most importantly, the disappearance of labor union President Jimmy Hoffa (Pacino).

While historians have had more than their fair share to say about Sheeran’s alleged involvement in these affairs, The Irishman portrays the gangster’s recollections with the utmost diligence, taking nearly four hours to circulate through the entire story. That being said, what’s expected of the audience is a tough task, even for the most stringent of moviegoers. Fortunately, the start-and-stop capabilities of Netflix can easily convert this looming film into a 4-part miniseries. Here’s how to do it.

Episode 1: “I Heard You Paint Houses”

Duration: 49 minutes – 0:00-49:05 (turn off as the car approaches the bath house)

The opening scene of The Irishman (appropriately subtitled “I Heard You Paint Houses” from its source material, Charles Brandt’s 2004 book) sees Sheeran in a nursing home, sickly, alone, and bound to a wheelchair. It is here that The Irishman casts off on its extensive, yet manageable flashback trail; the story begins as Frank and Philadelphia don Russell Bufalino (Pesci) prepare to drive to Chicago for the wedding of Russell’s niece. Stopping on the side of the road for one, of many, cigarette breaks for the wives, they happen to land across the street from the location where the two first met. And then the next flashback begins.

Fresh off the European frontlines, Frank takes a job delivering steak as a truck driver. To pick up some extra cash for his rapidly growing family, he gets in touch with the local mob head, “Skinny Razor” DiTullio (Bobby Cannavale). An avid steak lover himself, Skinny humbly accepts Frank’s offer to rotate some of the transported meat from the truck in the mob’s direction. From there, the severity and the frequency of Frank’s criminal life increases, until he has become a full blown muscle member of the Bufalino crime family. His reputation starts to grow, which attracts the interest of one rather important figure. “Is this Frank?” Jimmy Hoffa asks over the phone. “I heard you paint houses.”

Episode 2: “Solidarity”

Duration: 49 minutes – 49:05 -1:38:32 (turn off when you see old Frank in his wheelchair)

Accepting Hoffa’s offer to unofficially “paint a couple houses” for him, Frank Sheeran slips into Chicago and partakes in the city’s labor union war. Bashfully impressing the Teamsters president, Frank and Hoffa soon become close family friends and associates, with Frank also acting as Jimmy’s bodyguard and as a similar muscle figure for the Teamsters.

This section of the film injects The Irishman with the bulk of its politics. Hoffa, an outspoken contender of the rising Kennedy brothers, engages in ferociously public legal battles with Robert Kennedy, attempting to navigate his shady enterprise around the Attorney General’s “Get Hoffa Squad.” During this time, the audience also gets a strong whiff of Hoffa’s boisterous stubbornness, his “won’t back down to anybody” mantra that is already starting to ruffle some mafia feathers.

Episode 3: “The Banquet”

Duration: 45 minutes – 1:38:32-2:23:29 (turn off when you see Frank at the gas station)

With Jimmy finally nabbed by the “Get Hoffa Squad” and spending some time in the slammer, episode 3 sees Frank running more alongside the Bufalinos again. This is when Sheeran partakes in the first of his high-profile murders: “Crazy” Joe Gallo. The Bufalinos have no problem with Gallo, a prolific member of the Colombo crime family. That is until Gallo makes a couple of jokes at Russell’s expense; not even a couple of hours later, Frank is sent to kill Crazy Joe at a restaurant where he and his family are celebrating the mobster’s birthday.

Soon enough, Hoffa is given a pardon by President Nixon. Though he isn’t legally allowed to participate in the Teamsters, Hoffa immediately initiates plans to reclaim his place at the throne of the union. But once again, his stubbornness gets the better of him, and he continues to burn the bridges with the gangsters. All of this culminates in an award ceremony the Teamsters are holding in Frank, the President of one of the local chapters. For the first time since the verbal back-and-forths began, Hoffa steps in front of the Philadelphia mob as Frank’s special guest. Sheeran hopes that Jimmy will take the chance to smooth things over at the banquet, but that doesn’t happen. Hoffa won’t back down, and neither will the much more powerful mafia.

Episode 4: “What It Is”

Duration: 65 minutes – 2:23:29-end

The ferocious final chapter of The Irishman embarks on what Frank considers to be his most heinous act: the murder and highly-disputed disposal of his good friend, Jimmy Hoffa. The audience finally learns that the hidden purpose of Russell and Frank’s cross-country road trip is to try and mend the gap between the mafia and the former Teamsters leader. Though Hoffa seems intent on solving the situation, Russell changes the plan on Frank, telling him that mob has decided to take Hoffa out.

“We did all we could for the man,” Russell says plainly. Frank is then sent to Chicago and does what he is (this section of the film needn’t be detailed; watch it yourself) sent there to do. The remaining 40 minutes of The Irishman are then spent on the turmoil the act. Frank’s family, some more suspicious than others, drift away from him. Though he lives to an old age – even through a prison sentence – the transition is not sweet. His body, time and time again, fails him, until he ends up at the aforementioned nursing home. He was “The Irishman”. Now he’s sickly, alone, and bound to a wheelchair.

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  • The Irishman Release Date: 2019-11-27