Goodfellas Review

 Goodfellas

Director: Martin Scorsese

Stars: Ray Liotta,Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, Lorraine Bracco, Paul Sorvino, Frank Vincent, Chuck Low, Gina Mastrogiacomo, Christopher Serrone & Samuel L. Jackson

Running Time: 146 mins

Release: 26 November 1990

Based on the true story of a former wise guy Henry Hill's (Liotta) rise and fall through the mob spanning almost 30 years all the way from petty thief to a coke addict and dealer with his best friend Tommy Devito (Pesci) and mentor James Conway (De Niro). The film shows the New York blue-collar side of the Italian Mob and it's rules.

Ray Liotta plays Henry Hill for a majority of he film and I have to say he's absolutely flawless and perfect in the role. I have never seen him in a film and he's one i'll be looking out for in films in the near future. I know this film to be a rare instance when he is in a leading role as I know him to be mostly in a supporting role. He's a great leading man in this. He's very charismatic, likeable, intelligent, sleazy & manipulative and when pushed violent and he knows exactly how to get out of a sticky situation. As the events of the film go on he becomes paranoid. Like some mobsters he likes to keep his hands clean and does not like killing people and when he see's people being whacked or buried he's rather sickened and upset by it unlike most mobsters in the film who have become immune to it. This trait makes him the most sympathetic mobster in the film in my eyes.

He also has turbulent stormy relationships with women as a whole in this film. With his wife Karen (Bracco) (which i'll discuss later on) and his mistresses Janice (Mastrogiacomo) and Sandy (Debi Mazar). He's much more focused on work than he is with pleasure. Wanting to better himself from his humble poor beginnings. You can see why he wanted to become a mobster. He really stands out in every scene. He's certainly an actor i'll be looking for in the future and I think he looks a little like Joaquin Phoenix in this film. He also narrates the film brilliantly.

Joe Pesci plays Henry's best friend Tommy Devito a loose cannon mobster who's really hot headed and always feels he has something to prove, he's rather childish. He's the most coldblooded of the mobsters that we see in this film in my eyes. Whacking mobsters and innocent people has zero affect on him, he feels no regret, remorse or pity for those he kills. He's really a disgusting character What offsets this is his innocent relationship with his mother who's played by Scorsese's mother Catherine Scorsese, who also appeared in The King of Comedy as Rupert Pupkin's mother. As she does not really have any idea of what her son does. The scene with him Henry and James in her kitchen is particularly brilliant. It's familiar territory for Pesci being a hot headed violent psychopath as he was in Raging Bull (though more restrained) and Casino. He's absolutely brilliant in the role.

Even though I don't feel any sympathy for the character he's somewhat likeable in his own way.

De Niro is on brilliant perfect form as James Conway. Henry and Tommy's mentor. In like most gangster films that he appears in he plays a gangster though there is one that is against type and that's The Bronx Tale which he directed himself. He's really an intelligent, cool and charismatic character especially in the scene where Cream's Sunshine of Your Love plays and that's all i'm saying. You can see why Henry and Tommy look up to him. He's far more professional than Tommy and Henry. He's not so detached from humanity like Tommy as and when he kills an innocent person for no reason he really has a go at him. You could say James is Tommy's leash he tries to keep him under control and not lose his cool. When things start going south in the film he becomes really paranoid and starts whacking some of his former associates so they can't lead them back to him as he does not want to go back inside.

I'm really surprised that Lorraine Bracco has a major part in this film as Karen Hill. Early on in the film you don't suspect her she'll be a major player in this fill. But when her narration begins you know. You can tell Henry cares about her greatly but as the years go on her their relationship becomes stormy and he becomes unfaithful to her but she's still attracted to him. Also she's robbed of her innocence later on in the film as she becomes drawn into her husbands criminal activities. Also she's the same age as Ray in this film 34 even though they both play younger and older than themselves. I've never heard of Bracco and after looking her up I know she has not been in any major films since. She's really good in the film and I'm surprised she has not been in more.

Paul Sorvino plays Henry's first mentor and father figure Paul Sorvino, a big time mobster in the community. For a big time gangster we don't see him do anything really bad. He's brilliant in the role I must say and completely believable. He's always trying to look out for Henry as he is protege and even though Henry goes over him later on the film he still looks out for him. This makes him likeable and relatable. In that scene particular he appears to be a disappointed father.

Mastrogiacomo plays Janice Rossi, Henry's main mistress. I have to say she looks a bit like Juliette Lewis in this film. She does not say all that much in the film, I really must say she barely says a line at all and she's very good in her small role and conveys a lot of emotion even though she does not say much.

Chuck Low plays Morris Kessler a advertising salesman, his latest scheme is hard to blow off wigs. He is a major player in the big heist in the film and see's himself the brains of the operation when he clearly isn', he's very delusional and runs his mouth a lot constantly asking James for his money which is not a wise move. I've seen similar characters in other films.

Frank Vincent plays the unfortunate made man mobster Billy Batts who angers Tommy who later gets whacked by him, he's great in his one and only scene and his beating and death is rather brutal.

Samuel L. Jackson plays Stacks Edwards a bar guitar player who get's involved in the big heist in the film. Prior to seeing the film I had no knowledge that he was in it and I was really surprised when I saw him in it.

Christopher Serrone plays the young Henry, he has about 20 minutes and his scenes are too narrated by Henry as he is reflecting on his early years. He is very good in the role.

There's a lot of themes in this film; prosperity, poverty, friendship, loyalty, betrayal. I was really surprised how in-depth it was in the workings and rules of the mob and how people came up from being blue collar.

The soundtrack in this film is compromised of artists spanning the nearly 30 year duration of the film featuring the likes of Bobby Darin, Aretha Franklin, Cream, Muddy Waters & The Shangri-Las, The Crystals among many others and the songs are all well placed in the film, there's not a song that's not in place. Some of the songs act like themes to some of the characters. Of course The Rolling Stones feature on the soundtrack which is one of Scorsese's traits in his films, they are never out of place.

Martin Scorsese films with his usual stylistic professional flair there's not much else I can say on it. It's sheer brilliant and could of not be done better in my eyes. The acting is flawless, the script beats along with the pace of the film, the soundtrack is perfect and well fitted and there's a great sense of period authenticity to the film with the costumes, interiors, cars and music. I can see why this film is one of his best regarded films but it does not top The King of Comedy which is my absolute favourites Scorsese film.