By skyforbes Just rewatched this again last night…I think it's aged better than I thought it would.
One thing that I'm still hung up on. When Pesci/Ruffalino says "It's what it is" to De Niro/Sheeran about Pacino/Hoffa, does that mean:
- This is his final warning. He knocks off everything that he's doing, stops trying to get back in as Teamsters president, etc. or we're going to kill him.
OR
- That's it. We're putting out an active hit on him. There's nothing he can do or say at this point to stop it.
I lean towards #1, because otherwise why would Ruffalino ask Sheeran to inform Hoffa? But then, later on, when Ruffalino and Sheeran are sitting in the diner, and Sheeran is informed that he's doing the actual hit, Ruffalino says the same thing.
So may "It's what it is" can mean 1 or 2, depending on context? Or was the mob's mind already made up in the earlier scene, and they were just giving Hoffa a heads up for some bizarre reason?