Netflix’s 10/10 Crime Thriller With Near-Perfect Rotten Tomatoes Score Has One Of Its Best Casts

by

Netflix is known for its shows featuring famous actors, but one movie stands out with an exceptionally star-studded cast. It’s easy to forget that Netflix once had to prove itself in the entertainment industry. Though the service became incredibly popular in the mid-2010s with hits like House of Cards, Stranger Things, and BoJack Horseman, Netflix continued to focus on producing critically acclaimed films to gain recognition and awards.

Starting with the powerful war drama Beasts of No Nation in 2015, the streaming service began releasing a mix of serious, high-quality dramas alongside its more lighthearted content. Many of these films, like the darkly comedic War Machine and Noah Baumbach’s The Meyerowitz Stories, boasted impressive casts typically seen in big-screen movies. However, the streaming service truly outdid itself in 2019 with The Irishman, Martin Scorsese’s gangster film, which assembled what is still considered its most star-packed cast to date.

The Irishman Has One of the Best Casts Ever Assembled

The film The Irishman tells the story of Frank Sheeran, played by Robert De Niro, a low-level gangster who may have been responsible for the murder of Jimmy Hoffa. The movie follows Sheeran’s life, starting as a truck driver and quickly evolving into a hitman for the Philadelphia mafia. He becomes deeply involved with Al Pacino’s charismatic Jimmy Hoffa, leading to a decades-long tale of loyalty, deception, and ultimately, revenge that spans the final years of the 20th century.

Although some viewers found The Irishman‘s three-and-a-half-hour length a bit long, the film drew many people in thanks to its incredible cast. It brought Robert De Niro and Al Pacino, famous for The Godfather, back together under director Martin Scorsese. Beyond them, the movie featured a remarkable group of supporting actors, including Joe Pesci, who returned from retirement to play the gangster Russell Bufalino, as well as Ray Romano, Bobby Cannavale, Anna Paquin, Stephen Graham, Jesse Plemons, Harvey Keitel, Louis Cancelmi, Marin Ireland, and Kathrine Narducci.

The cast of The Irishman is exceptional—arguably one of the greatest ever put together—and the overwhelmingly positive reviews confirm that talent wasn’t wasted. Everyone delivers a strong performance, with Pacino brilliantly playing the flamboyant Hoffa and De Niro offering a quieter, more subdued take on the aggressive masculinity he portrayed in Raging Bull as Sheeran. But it’s Anna Paquin as Frank’s troubled daughter, Peggy, who truly shines, even with limited screen time, delivering a career-defining performance.

Martin Scorsese’s Gangster Epic Made One Surprising Mistake

Given its incredible cast and overwhelmingly positive reception, you might expect The Irishman to be perfect. And it definitely deserves praise for making the most of its talented actors – something Netflix’s earlier film, Zero Day, failed to do despite having a similarly impressive lineup. However, The Irishman does have one flaw, a problem that continues to affect many Netflix productions.

Similar to the upcoming Julia May Jonas adaptation, The Irishman would have worked better as a film series on Netflix rather than a single movie. Its complex story and well-developed characters needed more space to breathe. While Netflix spent nearly $250 million on the film and assembled an award-worthy cast, likely to establish itself as a producer of serious Oscar contenders, the movie’s slow pace could have been improved if it had been released as a series, allowing the epic story to unfold more naturally.

Read More

2026-04-27 23:41