My Favorite Movies: #13—Goodfellas

13. Goodfellas (1990) 

Genre: Gangster Drama 

Director: Martin Scorsese 

Writers: Nicholas Pileggi 

Stars: Robert De Niro, Ray Liotta, Joe Pesci, Lorraine Bracco 

Awards: 1 Oscar—Supporting Actor (Pesci)

Metacritic score: 89 

IMDB Ranking: #17

Ah, the eternal debate of the gangster movies: which is better, The Godfather or Goodfellas? For me, there’s absolutely no question; not only is Goodfellas the best gangster movie ever made, I think it’s Martin Scorsese’s best movie of his career, and its one of the best movies of all-time. 

Based on a true story, Goodfellas is told from the point-of-view of Henry Hill, a half-Sicilian, half-Irish kid who grows up wanting to be a “wiseguy,” their terminology for a mobster. Narrated and portrayed by Ray Liotta, Hill is both appealing and menacing at the same time. 

The first 30 minutes of the movie shows how Henry becomes part of the local “crew” of criminals in his neighborhood, and I consider it the best opening half-hour of any movie ever made. You begin to identify with Henry and share in his excitement as he grows into full status as part of this criminal gang. 

 

Henry meets Karen, a pretty young Jewish woman who is likewise attracted to Henry's darker side. One of the most amazing shots in the movie is a continuous tracking shot following Henry and Karen as they walk through the back of the Copacabana club, through the kitchen, and are eventually seated down front as other wait in a long line through the front of the club. Henry has power and influence, and everyone knows it.

In a lot of ways, this movie is the dark side of the American dream that because of its darkness, turns into an American nightmare. Henry's criminal ambition gives his family money and status, but the business itself means violence, arrest, imprisonment, and eventually, drug addiction and desperation.

Every performance in this film is a standout, but the most memorable are Robert De Niro as Jimmy Conway, a veteran thief and cold-blooded killer, and Joe Pesci, in his Oscar-winning role as Tommy DeVito, a dangerous psychopath who turns an evening of good-natured joking into one of the most frightening and uncomfortable scenes in the movie. Tommy's violent and uncontrollable temper eventually leads to his own murder, or "whacking," in the wiseguy vernacular.

Henry eventually turns state's evidence on his cronies in order to save his own life, and he's placed into witness protection, where he bemoans the fact that he's condemned to live the rest of his life as a "schnook." Even at the end, Henry loves the life of a wiseguy, a Goodfella, and we know exactly why he feels this way because we've been on the whole ride with him.