Goodfellas (1990)

The story of Henry Hill and his life in the mob, covering his relationship with his wife Karen Hill and his mob partners Jimmy Conway and Tommy DeVito in the Italian-American crime syndicate.

Director:

Martin Scorsese

Writers:

Nicholas Pileggi (book), Nicholas Pileggi (screenplay)

Stars:

Robert De Niro, Ray Liotta, Joe Pesci

Top Rated Movies #17 | Won 1 Oscar. Another 43 wins & 37 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Robert De Niro	...	James Conway
Ray Liotta	...	Henry Hill
Joe Pesci	...	Tommy DeVito
Lorraine Bracco	...	Karen Hill
Paul Sorvino	...	Paul Cicero
Frank Sivero	...	Frankie Carbone
Tony Darrow	...	Sonny Bunz
Mike Starr	...	Frenchy
Frank Vincent	...	Billy Batts
Chuck Low	...	Morris Kessler
Frank DiLeo	...	Tuddy Cicero
Henny Youngman	...	Henny Youngman
Gina Mastrogiacomo	...	Janice Rossi
Catherine Scorsese	...	Tommy's Mother
Charles Scorsese	...	Vinnie

Storyline

Henry Hill might be a small time gangster, who may have taken part in a robbery with Jimmy Conway and Tommy De Vito, two other gangsters who might have set their sights a bit higher. His two partners could kill off everyone else involved in the robbery, and slowly start to think about climbing up through the hierarchy of the Mob. Henry, however, might be badly affected by his partners' success, but will he consider stooping low enough to bring about the downfall of Jimmy and Tommy?

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Plot Keywords:

gangster | organized crime | sadistic psychopath | rise and fall | gang violence | 

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Taglines:

Three Decades of Life in the Mafia.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama

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Certificate:

R

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook

Country:

USA

Language:

English Italian

Release Date:

21 September 1990 (USA)

Also Known As:

Good Fellas

Filming Locations:

19 Alfred Lane, New Rochelle, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$25,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$6,368,901, 21 September 1990, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$46,836,394

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

146 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The name "Tommy DeVito" is a nod to Tommy DeVito, the lead guitarist of The Four Seasons, with whom Joe Pesci was friends.

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Goofs

During the prison dinner scene, Paulie says, "Freddie, Vinnie, come eat." Even though there was no Freddie, this could simply be a nickname for Johnnie Dio, as we learn the montage at 17 minutes into the film each gangster has at least one nickname.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Henry Hill: The fuck is that?

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Alternate Versions

A television version of the film was prepared by director Martin Scorsese, which retained a good portion of the film's graphic violence. It also retained much of the profanity, minus the F- and S-words, which were dubbed over. Scorsese did a televised introduction upon the film's network premiere.

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Connections

Referenced in War Dogs (2016)

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Soundtracks

Life Is But a Dream
Written by Raul Cita and Hy Weiss
Performed by The Harptones
Courtesy of Old Town Records - Paradise Records, Inc.

User Reviews

The Definitive Film of the 1990s

"GoodFellas" may be the most important film of the 1990s in the fact that its incredible success led to some of the other great movies of the decade. Films like "The Silence of the Lambs", "The Crying Game", "Pulp Fiction", "The Usual Suspects", "Fargo", and "L.A. Confidential" would have likely never been made as well as they were without the influence of Scorsese's "GoodFellas". The film is an intense study of a Mafia family over a 30-year stretch. Ray Liotta plays the half-Irish, half-Sicilian kid from Brooklyn whose only dream is to be a gangster. Although Liotta's story is at the heart of "GoodFellas", it is the supporting cast that is the film's calling card. Robert DeNiro gives one of his greatest performances, Paul Sorvino is quietly effective, and Lorraine Bracco (in an Oscar-nominated role) does the best work of her career. However, it is Joe Pesci (in his well-deserved Oscar-winning turn) who steals every scene as the one who does the "dirty work". This is probably the definitive film in a decade that produced many film-noir styled classics. 5 stars out of 5.