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 & 38 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:

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

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Genres:

Biography | 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

According to Lorraine Bracco, Martin Scorsese told her to think of Karen as the "movie star" of the group.

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Goofs

When young Henry Hill is arrested for selling black-market cigarettes (late 1950s), the cigarette cartons have UPC barcodes. A barcode is also visible on a bottle of dish soap on the window sill as Johnny and the boys are making spaghetti in the late 1950s. The barcode was first tried in 1966, became a new industry standard in 1970, and was first scanned in 1974.

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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

Featured in At the Movies: Goodfellas/Narrow Margin/Funny About Love/The Tall Guy (1990)

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Soundtracks

Frosty the Snow Man
Written by Steve Nelson and Jack Rollins
Performed by The Ronettes
Courtesy of Phil Spector Records Inc. by Arrangement with ABKCO Records

User Reviews

One word: priceless

If there was one word that I could use to describe Martin Scorsese's "Goodfellas": it'd be priceless.

A surreal and deeply fascinating take on life of Henry Hill who was involved in the Mob for three decades and his rise throughout the time span (and Nicholas Pileggi's book "Wiseguy").

There isn't a single moment in the movie where it doesn't miss a beat, you could only tell by the atmosphere of the time period and it seems so real.

The performances in this film simply make it even more memorable and how the characters are portrayed here especially by Ray Liotta, Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci (who won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor), and Paul Sorvino are believable and easy to understand that they were a family, very close and tightly knit to the core. Also, how director Martin Scorsese lets the movie pace itself and keeps the viewer off guard in what happens deserves a lot of credit.