Goodfellas

The gangster film has been redefined so many times in cinema history it will be interesting to see how it is redefined once again. Goodfellas is a milestone film in that regard because just as Public Enemy and Little Caesar defined it in the Thirties, The Godfather trilogy in the seventies and eighties, Goodfellas set the standard that all other films including Martin Scorsese similar Casino try to meet. The interesting thing is that Martin Scorsese is young enough to redefine it again with another work.

With Ray Liotta narrating his own life in crime in a flashback as real life criminal Henry Hill, Martin Scorsese offers us one fascinating glimpse of the criminal life in the Eisenhower to Reagan era. Henry Hill even as a child got sucked into the criminal life as a kid, as he said all he ever wanted to be was a gangster. Tutored by both Robert DeNiro and Paul Sorvino, Liotta takes part in one of the biggest heists of all time of Lufthansa Airlines at JFK Airport during the seventies. Goodfellas is the story of the events from Henry Hill's perspective leading up to the heist and the aftermath.

For myself I've never seen the gangster mentality better expressed on screen except maybe by Sean Connery in Family Business. Liotta and Connery operate from the same mindset. If you work hard and hope it pays off in success, you're a dope. If you want something, just take it. When you come right down to it, that's how criminals think, it's the rest of us who are fools.

Goodfellas was nominated for several Oscars, but came away with only one winner, Joe Pesci in the role of crazy Tommy DeVito. He's another criminal type, one who's driven by a terrible inferiority complex due to his short stature and does terrible things even to his own peers. And those peers don't forget as you see what happens to Pesci in Goodfellas. This turned out to be a career role for Pesci. He's a multi-talented man who's got an incredible range and can play everything from the Home Alone comedies to stone killers like here in Goodfellas or in Casino.

There's usually a contest in which Scorsese fans argue whether Casino or Goodfellas is better. I happen to like Casino, but without the success of Goodfellas, Casino would not have been made.

For a fascinating look at the criminal mindset, Goodfellas is an absolute must.

The movie that dispelled the romantic myths about La Cosa Nostra and showed it as it really was. "The Godfather" for the 90's minus the silly notions of love, honor, and family. Henry Hill (Ray Liotta) is a half-Irish, half-Italian who rises to prominence in Paul Cicero's (Paul Sorvino) Lucchese Crime Family along with Jimmy Conway (Robert DeNiro) and Tommy DeVito (Joe Pesci). This is his story of hi-jacking, stealing, cheating, killing and finally drug dealing. He makes no excuses about what he does. Simply put he is just doing business and trying to survive on the mean streets of New York City. He explains the trials and tribulations of being a mobster and what it's like to have to do these things and live with the consequences. Cicero, an aging old-time underboss, heads a dangerous and powerful organization that enjoys free reign over the neighborhood in which Hill lives and recruits him when he is only a kid to work for them and learn to "score" more specifically, the art of committing crime. Hill quickly hooks up with veteran criminal Jimmy "The Gent" and his protege Tommy to hi-jack trucks from the Idlewild Airport. This makes these three rich and respected in the underworld but there is a new game in town. Narcotics. They quickly undertake this highly profitable business even though they know it is against the expressed rules of Paulie. This combined with another serious rule violation and the score of a lifetime sets them up for their own possible demise. Lorraine Bracco co-stars as Henry's wife. A marvelous true life story of one of the most violent and profitable street crews in the history of the American Mafia. The best movie of 1990.

This is the gangster film at its finest. Scorsese is on top form as are Pesci and De Niro. Liotta has never bettered the performance he gives here. The film starts as it means to go on - violent, full of profanity, fast paced and very stylish. The story follows Liotta's character from boy to man as he climbs his way up through the ranks of organised crime. We see all the highs and lows of his life and meet a host of very believable and very undesirable characters along the way. It's a film full of memorable scenes whilst remaining much more than the sum of its individual parts at the same time. This is what all movies should be like. It draws you in and won't let you out of its grasp at any point. When it finishes you feel exhausted and exhilarated at the same time. If ever the word 'masterpiece' was meant to be used, it was for this film.

Needs to be seen to be believed; in one word: perfection. Every frame, every voice-over, every song - it all comes together at the exact right moment to create the perfect film experience. This film makes you really understand and feel what makes the American mafia so compelling; in the eyes of a kid, who was unfortunate enough to grow up in a tough neighborhood, those gangsters are rock stars. Live fast, die young - but when you die, it ain't gonna be of a glamorous suicide or drug overdose - the ending will be brutal, ugly and sad. And it may very well be one of your best friends that will blow your brains out.

I'll never get tired of watching Goodfellas; the entertainment value of this film is just amazing. It doesn't happen very often that every person involved in the process of making a film is at the peak of his/her game. And rarely do art and entertainment come together the way they did here. Storytelling with impeccable pacing, this is what it's like when a master composer conducts his masterpiece. All hail the king; the most versatile and talented filmmaker of his generation: Martin Scorsese.

My vote: 10 out of 10

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Amazing is the one and only word to say for this film. I have always thought that Goodfellas was one of the greatest films ever made and set a landmark in the 90's or even in movie history. I bought Goodfellas last week and I got to watch the film a couple days ago. I really just couldn't lay my eyes off the film and everything about it was just simply worth watching. The acting was excellent, Ray Liotta, Robert DeNiro, Joe Pesci, Lorraine Bracco, and other actors did great and almost all of the characters they portrayed were 100% accurate. The camera-work also was brilliant and Martin Scorsese does a beautiful job by putting excellent camera shots in his films and I give him high credit for that. The soundtrack too is one of the best soundtracks ever made and the song "Layla," put chills down my spine of how great this song fitted the film. Overall, Martin Scorsese made his best film in my opinion and him and Nicholas Pileggi made an excellent and sharp script that made this, the greatest mob film still today.

Hedeen's Outlook: 10/10!! **** A+