The Irishman Review: 10 Ups & 1 Down
6. Robert De Niro & Joe Pesci's Brilliantly Understated Performances
If Al Pacino gives an acidic, energetic performance, his two co-stars decide to go the other way and compliment his work with their more restrained and underplayed turns.
Robert De Niro adds another marvelous effort to his cachet as the titular character Frank Sheeran, a performance defined by exasperation and anxious tics, tripping over his words whenever he gets nervous or agitated. That he's destined for a Best Actor Oscar nomination goes without saying.
And then there's Joe Pesci, who Scorsese effectively had to bully out of retirement to appear in the movie, and boy, was it worth it.
If you were simply expecting another fiery, Goodfellas-esque performance from the actor, this isn't that at all: this is a quiet, reined-in rebuke to his Tommy DeVito character, but one still imbued with its own brand of low-key menace.
Pesci gets his best material in the film's haunting third act, and will absolutely end up a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nominee alongside Pacino.