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?

---

Plot Keywords:

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

---

Taglines:

"As far back as I can remember, I've always wanted to be a gangster." -- Henry Hill, Brooklyn, N.Y. 1955.

---

Genres:

Crime | Drama

---

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

According to Martin Scorsese, Marlon Brando tried to persuade him to not make the film.

---

Goofs

Henry looks into a bag filled with $20 bills. They're signed by "James A. Baker" (James Baker III), who was Treasury Secretary in 1985. The scene is set in the mid to late 1970s. Also, the money is clearly photocopies and not genuine currency.

---

Quotes

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

---

Alternate Versions

A television version of the film was prepared by director , 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.

---

Connections

Referenced in Net Games (2003)

---

Soundtracks

Parlami d'amore, Mariù
Written by Enrico Neri and Cesare A. Bixio (as C.A. Bixio)
Performed by Giuseppe Di Stefano
Courtesy of London Records, a Division of PolyGram Records, Inc.

User Reviews

A classic mobster film.

This is one hell of a film about the mobsters, based on a true story and coming from one of the great directors of all time. This is about Henry Hill, the narrator of the story, an Irish simple person who gets involved with the Mafia at a very young age and continues his life through it. There is no major plot in this film, just isolated incidents one of which was the turning point of Hill's life. Scorsese, as brilliant as he ever was, shows violence, sex and drugs etc in his own trademark style. And his actors helps him to make this film one of the classics.

Robert DeNiro is not present in much of the film, nor his acting leaves too much impression. The three actors who really did their best job here are Ray Liotta, Joe Pesci and Lorraine Bracco. I hate to say that most youngsters today don't know too much about Liotta or how talented he was. I asked my younger brother about him and he said, "The man who did the voice on GTA: Vice City?". This is partly because Liotta did not get too many big roles after that, especially in recent years. But here he is just brilliant as Hill. It's Pesci's one of the best too. Playing a mad mobster with dark sense of humor wasn't his usual type. And Lorraine Bracco becomes the perfect lead female in such type of films.

The film's got smart screenplay and excellent cinematography. And I don't know how many times Scorsese will be denied his Academy recognition. I hate to see a lifetime achievement award as his first Oscar. But things are going like that.