The Irishman (Movie Tie-In): Frank Sheeran and Closing the Case on Jimmy Hoffa Mass Market Paperback – 2019

I read I Heard You Paint Houses when it came out. How much of this story, reputed to be authentic, can I believe? I had never heard of Frank Sheeran. I thought I knew the names of ALL the mobsters. Obviously not.I sat through 3 1/2 hours of the film version, The Irishman, yesterday here in NYC. My friend and I left the theater numb from the emotions the actors drained from us. This is The Godfather for the Millennium.Marty is 77. Al is 79. Joe is 76. Bob is 76. I wouldn't call this film their 'Swan Song' but they will never give performances like this again. Al Pacino was explosive! His best acting role ever. He stole each frame from De Niro, which is virtually impossible to do. He is a shoo-in for the Academy Award next year.That said, the Academy is going to have a heck of a time trying to choose which actor gave the best performance in this film. De Niro, Pesci, and Pacino are equally fantastic. They should make it a triple win in Best Actor category and give them all an Oscar. Surely no one can take the Best Film and Best Director awards away from Marty Scorsese. His finest three and a half hours hands-down.The book should be read before or after watching the film. Preferably before. It gives you a roadmap of what you will see in the film. The only question I have about Sheeran is, was he involved in the murder of Joey Gallo? I don't recall seeing his name mentioned in the books about his death. I re-read the two biographies of Gallo and his death, and Sheeran had no mob family ties to Colombo or Gallo. His mob affiliations were in Philly, not NYC Gallo's murder was in retaliation for his part in Joe Colombo's demise. Gallo was celebrating his 43rd birthday the night he died with his new bride and friends at the Copacabana with beloved actor Jerry Orbach and his wife. They did not accompany Gallo to Umberto's Clam House afterward. Orbach's mother was Italian.I don't see how Sheeran fits into the killing that night at all. Sheeran was very tall (6'4") and very Irish. I thought all the gunmen that night on both sides were Italian. Gallo and his bodyguards were Italian and known to everyone in Little Italy, where he was killed. That is the only question I have about his involvement in all the Mob hits in the book and film.Speaking of Irish, how many people know that Jimmy Hoffa's mom was Irish? That may be why he hit it off so well with Sheeran. That is not mentioned in the film.I know, at age 77, I won't see another film this perfect in my lifetime. Just thrilled I lived long enough to see my favorite actors and director acting their hearts out in this moving, riveting, informative, scary, emotional film. Buy the book! It comes out on Netflix tomorrow, but seeing it in a small, intimate movie theater, is well worth sitting for almost four hours! I can't wait for next year's award season. If I live that long!P. S. Mr. Scorsese, if you ever decide to take on Vincent 'Chin' Gigante, as a cinema subject, you might want to seriously consider actor Holt McCallany (Mind Hunter) as 'The Chin.' Perfect casting.UPDATE: Oscar Night 2/9/20 Wow! The Academy really isn't going to let any film made by Netflix win anything, are they? An absolute disgrace. The Irishman did not win any awards this award season and it is anti-Netflix sentiment. This film will be around long after today's winners are forgotten. So sad!

I am 85. It would take me 10 years to read the book.I wanted the DVD of the Irishmen.

Contrary to previous reviews, I found the typography to be just fine and the editing is clean and clear-cut. While Brandt is the author of the book, the narrative reads from Sheeran's mouth and quotation marks are present when it is in his voice as indicated in the prologue. It is a fascinating and compelling read regardless of various critics' analysis questioning Sheeran's confession. I highly recommend reading this book and viewing the Scorsese film!

The typography is terrible. There seems to be two people telling the story, the book’s author and Frank Sheeran, and there’s no way to tell which of them is “talking”. It switches from one voice to the other with no way of knowing whose voice it is. Whether this is meant to be clever or is accidental, it doesn’t work for me.

I disliked the whole first 5 chapters I wish I could return it the storyline sucks.