Gangster Double Feature: ‘Cicero’ and ‘The Irishman’

Gangster movies – they’ll always be popular. In fact, they’re so popular that studios seem to have no problem releasing films about the same real-life gangsters, no matter how many films have already been made about them. Are you ready for another Al Capone movie? How about a movie that unites three of the industry’s top gangster actors with one of the most hallowed gangster film directors? Click “more” for, well, more!

Although many might scoff at another film about Capone, There’s a few interesting things about Cicero (the name of Illinois suburb where Capone started is criminal empire) that intrigue me about the film. First, it isn’t set during Capone’s heyday like most Capone films – it’s set during Capone’s early life, tracing his journey from Brooklyn to Chicago. Since that’s untouched ground, it is certainly a new way for a film to view Capone. Second, the film is being developed by Warner Brothers and, according to Variety, is meant to be a throwback to the studio’s early gangster films starring Edward G. Robinson, James Cagney, and Humphrey Bogart. That’s certainly exciting news – Warner Brothers was the best in the business when it came to gangster films in the 1930s-1940s, during which the studio produced some of the greatest gangster movies ever made – some, like Angels With Dirty Faces, featuring the same type of youth gang story that Cicero would undoubtedly draw from. Lastly, the script for Cicero was written by veteran writer/producer Walon Green, who has a history of writing about crime as a writer on NYPD Blue and Law & Order, as well as The Wild Bunch. Hopefully that translates well to a film set during the golden age of wiseguys!


But what has me even more excited is that according to Deadline, The Irishman aka I Heard You Paint Houses, the long-rumored Martin Scorese/Robert DeNiro reunion project, has added a few more rumored names. Maybe you’ve heard of Joe Pesci and Al Pacino? I heard they’ve been in a few gangster films, and both are expressing interest in joining the project. The Irishman is the story of Frank Sheeran, the mob hitman who claims to have murdered Jimmy Hoffa. Though it is confirmed what roles each man might play, anything that can drag Pesci out of his semi-retirement and into a gangster film is great news, as well as any movie teaming DeNiro and Pacino that can make us forget about how disappointing Righteous Kill was.