Frozen II vs The Irishman

Frozen II vs The Irishman

Article by Ray Schillaci

Two big films were released as Thanksgiving treats this year. One of them had three amazing actors that many of us wanted to see play off each other, perhaps for the last time while the other had two sisters that scores of fans could not wait to see paired again to work their magic. One had a legendary director presenting his magnum opus about a hitman while the other had two directors that had four successful Disney hits. Both incorporated CGI for their characters. Only difference, Anna and Elsa appear more natural than Robert De Niro and Al Pacino’s de-aging on the big screen. Aside from one being a family film sequel and the other being a slow-burn $200M gangster film, one is already a world-wide mega-success over $927M in its coffers as the other is slowly closing its coffin at $7.5M. Guess which is which.

Probably not a fair comparison in today’s market. But, it really has to be tough for a serious filmmaker to be crushed by a pair of animated sisters, a dim-witted snowman, and a goofy reindeer. This is something Martin Scorsese has contended with from the moment he rocketed to fame with the critics. His small time gangster tale Mean Streets, the original loner psychopath from Taxi Driver, the tale of the Bronx Bull in Raging Bull could not compete box office-wise with the power of his colleagues who preferred to dabble in sci-fi fantasy fare and high adventure, from Jaws to E.T. the Extraterrestrial and Star Wars to Raiders of the Lost Ark. But, you have to give it to Scorsese for always staying his course as a serious filmmaker and film historian. And, if you have somehow missed any of these classics I urge you to seek them out.

Now, here’s my issue with The Irishman and Frozen 2. Neither live up to their reputation. The Irishman is nearly a lumbering drag that opens on De Niro’s character in an old age home and he begins to tell his tale like a tired old man. Have you ever been to an elderly home where one person has a hundred stories to tell and they make none of them interesting? Like watching paint dry. While Frozen 2 is typical of a Disney sequel with a limited storytelling imagination that tends to meander half-way through with forgettable musical numbers. But, its redeeming value is the gorgeous renderings presented on the big screen and its lovable characters. Sadly, The Irishman visually does not compel us as Goodfellas, Casino or Raging Bull did. Nor does it have any of the quirkiness that we found in Mean Streets, Taxi Driver or After Hours. That being said, it does have two brilliant performances by Pacino and Joe Pesci, and a fascinating story if you can stick with it.

I found that Scorsese had several misfires in his career: New York, New York, The Age of Innocence, The Last Temptation of Christ. Some may argue over this vehemently. My argument with his musical – a bummer with only one memorable tune. His drawing room drama bored me to tears, and I have patience with beautiful films – I enjoyed Stanley Kubrick’s Barry Lyndon. And, his religious epic, although daring, took several dreadful wrong turns, starting with Harvey Keitel as Judas with a New York accent and Scorsese himself doing the voice of God – just uncomfortably awful. With Scorsese’s latest, he tends to ride on the gangster tropes he’s created. Kind of like De Niro’s performance, which is nothing we haven’t seen time and time again. Sometimes they are interesting enough to move the story and other times we just want him to get on with the story. Make that snail pace just a bit quicker to give it the punch the filmmakers deserve. Thank God Netflix purchased the film otherwise we might not have ever seen the film that so many talked about. It’s a fascinating misstep that is still worthy of watching, but in spurts as Netflix allows.

I went into Frozen 2 with low expectations, and that low bar was met. Of course, the kids loved it along with some adults. But, I was not swept off my feet as Frozen so effortlessly did. Could a better sequel have been made? Sure. Why not? The folks at Pixar have proved it with the Toy Story franchise. For me, Frozen 2, although beautifully illustrated, just did not have the story kick-started until the second half of the film.

Even though most of the songs were not memorable, Idina Menzel’s voice was. Menzel’s numbers equal the best of Streisand on film. That voice is so striking, it gave me chills (pun intended). That could be the main reason for adults to check out the film. In fact, in retrospect, I believe it’s Idina Menzel, and Josh Gad’s ridiculous snowman, Olaf, that carry the film. That’s no swipe against the voice talents of Kristen Bell, Jonathan Groff or the rest of the cast. It’s just Menzel and Gad have us enjoy the film despite its shortcomings.

The sad part about all this, is that despite both films’ popularity, they are better off being seen on the small screen. And, it seems as if more and more films are being acquired for the small screen and only being afforded limited engagements for award consideration. This is a shame for some really good films worth seeing in the theater. It’s bizarre that three out of the four Best Dramatic Features for Golden Globe awards actually belong to Netflix. So, for those into checking them out, The irishman, Marriage Story, and The Two Popes are available for Netflix subscribers. And, eventually Disney will get around to giving their streaming channel an exclusive with Frozen 2.