GoodFellas - Falcon's Blog

GoodFellas

Greetings, Goodfellas is a crime film by Martin Scorsese, director of many famous movies such as Shutter Island, the Last Temptation of Christ and Taxi Driver, which was released in the year 1990. The film is based on the non-fiction book ‘Wiseguy’ by Nicholas Pileggi which in turn is based on the life of mobster Henry Hill and his factual exploits in the criminal underworld. The movie has a sizeable cast of noteworthy actors including Ray Liotta as the protagonist and aforementioned Henry Hill, Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, Lorraine Bracco, Samuel L. Jackson and Paul Sorvino. Goodfellas has an extensive and varied list of music and musicians included within it, which changes as the story progresses into the different decades. It begins with singers from the 1950s such as Bobby Vinton or Tony Bennett with more doo-wop style songs and eventually concludes in the early 1980s with a punk soundtrack with the likes of Sid Vicious.

The movie begins with Henry and his two colleagues driving a car down a New York road at night in 1970. His co-workers are Jimmy ‘the Gent’ Conway, an American of Irish extraction, and the unhinged, aggressive Mafioso Tommy DeVito. As Henry drives along he can hear a thumping noise at the back of the automobile and proposes he has a flat tire. He pulls the vehicle over to inspect the noise which can be heard coming from the trunk of the car. DeVito unsheathes a knife as Jimmy pulls out a gun and Henry opens the boot to reveal a bloodied man wrapped in sheets. The unidentified man, on the verge of death, begs for them to spare his life but is quickly silenced by Tommy who stabs him. Jimmy shoots the man several times for good measure as well. The graphic scene causes Henry to think back on his life and how at one point in his youth he had decided he wanted to be a self-made man. The story reverts back to 1955 with a young Henry Hill and his introduction to the Italian mafia that were are prominent presence in his New York neighbourhood. He begins his criminal occupation by working as a low level fence, buying stolen goods from thieves and selling them on to unsuspecting citizens, for local mob boss Paul ‘Paulie’ Cicero.

GoodFellas

Hill further ingratiates himself into the family when he is caught selling ill-gotten packs of cigarettes by police officers and brought to court. Much to the delight of Cicero, Henry doesn’t snitch on his new found friends and receives a light sentence for his crimes as well as new found respect within the syndicate for his loyalty. Later on in the film, Henry has risen up the ranks of the organization and gotten accustomed to the riches, the perks and the glamorous lifestyle of being a gangster. He meets his future wife named Karen Friedman at a club one night and despite her initial reservations about his dangerous profession, she eventually succumbs to the highly lucrative, extravagant and exciting life the career provided her with. The high wouldn’t last forever as things begin to take a serious downward turn for Henry as his domestic life becomes troubled with his extra martial affairs later on and he develops a serious drug addiction. Matters become much worse in 1970 when the unstable Tommy kills another gangster from a different family for insulting him. The mobster was known as Billy Batts, the man from the beginning of the movie who was dying in the trunk. Henry, Tommy and Jimmy bury the body in a faraway location as Hill fears that the gruesome murder will be found out by the criminal organization who will naturally want revenge.

Overall, I really liked this film and appreciated the humour that was sprinkled throughout this rather dark, bloody tale. I found the rise and fall of Henry Hill to be a very intriguing story and would like to read the novel at some point to become further acquainted with the late Henry’s life. While Hill died in 2012, a few of the inspirations for the characters in the movie are still alive at the time of writing such as Hill’s ex-wife Karen. Due to my immense enjoyment of Goodfellas, I would like to watch more of Martin’s works and am particular interested in Casino. The 1995 film is another crime picture which stars Robert Di Niro as well as Joe Pesci and is another collaborative project between Scorsese and Pileggi.

Plot=10/10

Characters=10/10

Special Effects=10/10

Overall=10/10

Quote of the day

By love you mean big lightning bolts to the heart, where you can't eat and you can't work, and you just run off and get married and make babies. The reason you haven't felt it is because it doesn't exist. What you call love was invented by guys like me...to sell nylons.

Don Draper

Mad Men

Written by Falcon, Sunday 8 July 2018

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Falcon  6 year(s) ago (74 months)

Thanks for the comments! I'll have to give Donnie Brasco and A Bronx Tale a go then. I thought that the actors and actresses did an excellent job in their roles, especially the main trio of Ray Liotta, Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci. The involvement of De Niro and Pesci in Casino is one of the main reasons I would like to watch it. Check back on my blog again in a few days time for an extra special update.

 
Brisingr  6 year(s) ago (74 months)

Really loved this film - a gangster classic for sure. Its not a genre I tend to watch all that often but when I do it is usually very entertaining.

Nice Summary. :)

 
Aaron  6 year(s) ago (74 months)

Apologies. I read this like a week ago and apparently forgot to comment.

I quite liked Goodfellas and I thought Di Niro was brilliant in it. I also love the Don Draper quote. :)

Nicely reviewed.

 
Joh  6 year(s) ago (75 months)

Nice review. I really enjoyed Goodfellas - it is definitely a classic. I've heard a lot of strong praise for Casino too and heard a lot of people say they are similar films (in a good way), but I haven't gotten around to watching it either.

Donnie Brasco and A Bronx Tale would be two other similar films that I would recommend if you are interested in more gangster-style crime films.