Joe Pesci / Louis Cancelmi
A 1940s triumph in 2019 — it is most definitely a “picture” and not a “movie”… Scorsese’s THE IRISHMAN
Have you seen the great new Scorsese masterpiece THE IRISHMAN (2019)? It’s an old Hollywood kind of picture. I half expected there to be cartoons and a newsreel, my three-and-three-quarter hour experience stretching to five! Alas, no.
I was captivated by two performances in this film; one a headliner and one a great character actor. First the headliner. JOE PESCI gives the most quiet, focused, outwardly soft performance I have ever seen him deliver. Gone is the wide New York accent, banished are the double-takes and eye rolls and looks of ‘You’ve Got To Be Fucking Kidding Me’ incredulity made so famous in MY COUSIN VINNY, CASINO, and his other films.
Pesci turns in a performance that is old and gentle on the outside and that is powered by his character’s deceit, self-deception, and strange loyalty; at least until the very end. It is so moving to watch an actor who has made his name with frenetic Italian-American parts being so incredibly still. I was astonished at the transformation, to my mind a much more exciting special effect than the now famous “youthification” CGI work that was done on the main trio of actors.
Joe Pesci in character in THE IRISHMAN.
My other favourite performance in the film is by the great New York stage actor Louis Cancelmi who plays Sally Bugs. He is as pent-up and hyped-up and neurotic as Pesci’s performance is measured and graceful. If you have been lucky enough to see Louis perform on or off Broadway, it is no secret that man, woman and child all conclude he is the handsomest person this side of the golden age of Hollywood. See photo below.
Which is why it is such a joy to see him play such a twitchy low-life. I just love Sally Bugs, as a character and in Louis’ stupendous creation of him: his weird gangly limbs; his ridiculously thick lenses; his seriousness of purpose; his enthusiasm towards illegal activity; his dumbness; his possibly undiagnosed OCD. I love the fish-in-the-car conversation which rivals Pulp Fiction’s ‘Royale with Cheese’ baroque weirdness; its granular attention to detail at the most ill-informed moment. I love how Sally Bugs drops out of the film for about two hours and then sure enough - like a lost dog coming back to a bag of shit (if I may seriously mix my metaphors) - there he is enthusiastically cutting linoleum so as to make sure Hoffa’s brain matter doesn’t ruin the hardwood floor.
Sally Bugs is a triumph! A fucking idiot and a total triumph! Long live Sally Bugs! Thank You Louis Cancelmi! And Joe Pesci too.
Squint and you can see it: Coke-bottle thick lenses, greased unruly hair, skinny polyester trousers, plaid shirt, dumb trust, total obediency, gold medalions, and a propensity for violence. A recipe for a great character!