HAVE I SEEN IT BEFORE?
"Hard-hitting and stylish, GoodFellas is a gangster classic -- and arguably the high point of Martin Scorsese's career."
"The story of Henry Hill and his life in the mafia, covering his relationship with his wife Karen and his mob partners Jimmy Conway and Tommy DeVito."
- Goodfellas is one of my favourite movies of all time, and yet, despite this, I feel like there's a chance I'm inflating the Thrill Score a little bit. However, even if there may not be a whole lot of individual heart-pounding moments, the 8.5 rating is more applied to the movie as a whole. There's an all-encompassing jitteriness to Goodfellas that leaves you feeling breathless and on edge. It's kind of similar to Pulp Fiction, in fact, which also got an 8.5/10 from me
- We're talking about Goodfellas because of the reunion between Scorsese, De Niro and Pesci (and more on them in a minute) but Ray Liotta is the lead as Henry Hill, and I think he's fantastic in this. Despite being a completely unapologetic criminal he's still relatable and even sympathetic at times (and at other times wholly unsympathetic). I also think his voiceover narration is absolutely perfect and adds so much to the movie. For all these reasons I was shocked when I learned that Liotta didn't even get an Oscar nomination that year (and more on Goodfellas at the Oscars in a minute, as well)
- Joe Pesci, the Oscar winner for Best Supporting Actor that year, plays Tommy DeVito, a character who is completely unhinged and even more unapologetic than Liotta's Henry Hill. It's clear that Pesci had a ball making this movie, and he's captivating to watch, also providing a lot of the thrills with the completely unpredictable nature of his character. The "funny how" scene I quoted above is a perfect example of this - Pesci creates a ridiculous amount of tension between him and his friend, and then breaks it at the drop of a hat, just for kicks. The scene is iconic, but something I didn't even remember until this rewatch, it's also basically our introduction to Tommy DeVito as a character. I believe it's Pesci's first dialogue scene in the movie and it sets his tone perfectly
- And De Niro is also very good as Jimmy Conway! His role is a little less flashy, though, so it makes a bit less of an impact
- Rounding out the main cast, Lorraine Bracco as Karen Hill is also excellent, also nominated for Best Supporting Actress, and also provides great narration. Sidebar, I'm in the middle of a Sopranos rewatch, and it's always funny to see how much crossover there is between Goodfellas and The Sopranos. Lorraine Bracco is, of course, a prominent character in both, playing Tony Soprano's psychiatrist, Jennifer Melfi, but you've also got a young Michael Imperioli (Christopher in The Sopranos) playing Spider, the bartender who Tommy shoots for mouthing off to him (justifiably after Tommy previously shot him in the foot), and even Tony Sirico shows up in Goodfellas in a very small role, much smaller than his role of Paulie in The Sopranos
- And getting back to it, Goodfellas has had remarkable staying power as a movie, so it might be surprising to learn that Pesci's win was the only Oscar awarded to this movie. In the big categories, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Editing, Goodfellas lost to Dances With Wolves, a movie I haven't seen, but which I understand to be less highly regarded these days. A possible explanation, though, and something I also only just realized with this rewatch: this was the same year that The Godfather Part III was released, another movie that I would consider to have less staying power than Goodfellas. Still, I wonder if it caused some split votes, giving the advantage to Dances With Wolves
- And I think I'm going to leave it there, even though there's still more that could and should be praised! The soundtrack, the editing, the long and intricate tracking shots like Henry and Karen going through the back door of the Copacabana. It's all so good and it's all so influential, and endlessly rewatchable, and it's partly this rewatchability that puts Goodfellas in my top ten movies of all time