Originally Posted by
r_z
That's not true. To me it feels like Scorsese is critiquing his past work and career on screen through the lens of this movie, expanding on previous ideas and themes and occasionally maybe even correcting himself.
For example, wheras in Goodfellas the gangster stuff comes across as flashy and "cool", here there's this whole other layer of regret ankered by the backstory about Sheeran's daughter(s).
That's also why the criticism of Anna Paquin's lack of lines from certain quarters just comes off as baffingly dumb. We don't get to know her better, because the father whose eyes we see her through didn't get to know her better. Because of his actions that we do get to see.
And that's literally the whole point of the movie.