There's a killer on the road

The Irishman is Scorsese's car movie. It's all about the vehicle. Who turns, who's behind the wheel, when they have to stop for a break, who's sitting in the back seat and why; who's waiting in it. There are threats against cars: cars are bombed and shot up, cars are pushed into the water. Even the showdown is in Detroit. The one thing Frank Sheeran says he loves is his car. He started off driving a truck, which breaks down: he complains that he can't repair them. He's a mechanic with limited skills. At the end of the road after his friend and the real fixer Russell Buffalino is literally wheeled away, Frank himself starts to break down. Post-modern reading aside, the movie is good. It's long but not epic: Scorsese's Once Upon a Time in America. Pound for pound, Vince Gilligan's El Camino was better.