The true story behind ‘The Irishman’: What really happened to Jimmy Hoffa By Michael Kaplan , Lauren Steussy and Nadine DeNinno Published Jan. 4, 2020 Updated Jan. 4, 2020, 4:38 p.m. ET Based on the book I Heard You Paint Houses (which is also, oddly, what the film is titled on-screen) by Charles Brandt, The Irishman has received complaints from critics claiming that the As Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman arrives on Netflix, it’s a good time to explain who the real-life gangsters were. Expand. Outside Umberto’s Clam House after Vincent ‘Crazy Joe’ Gallo VmxvBk.