I love Scorsese films and when others complain about the length of some films, I'm usually grateful for the extra time I get to spend with characters. Not this time.

The actors are all far too old to play the much-younger versions of themselves the film requires. It's one thing to smooth out the wrinkles a bit (which is terribly distracting itself) but there's no way to de-age their bodies. Their posture, presence, and overall fitness are all those of elderly men. That's not a criticism, it's just a fact, btw. It looks ridiculous in the more physical scenes like De Niro beating up a grocer or a flashback scene to a very young De Niro in war. I honestly felt -throughout -that I was watching a film about old mobsters working out of a retirement home.

This is nowhere near as gripping and compelling as Goodfella's or even the much-flawed Departed. The story drags and meanders while some plot points lead virtually nowhere. It would've benefited greatly from some serious editing. There's probably 30-45 minutes that made absolutely no impact on the story and that is almost an unforgivable sin when you have these actors, this director, and the enormous budget granted to this movie. This isn't the tight storytelling most of us expected.

I watched this last night and today the first thing that occurred to me when I thought of it is how much I'd like to watch Goodfella's again.