Goodfellas

Goodfellas, USA 1990

I don't know that there is much for me to say about Goodfellas. Everyone has seen it, and most of us have seen it many times. This is the movie that Martin Scorsese should have won an Oscar for. Not that I think The Departed wasn't deserving. It was a very good movie. But Goodfellas is a masterpiece. I think the highest compliment I can give Goodfellas is that it is a two and half hour movie but it seems to take only half that much time to watch. It is fast paced and very funny. For anyone who hasn't seen it, I doubt there are many of you, Goodfellas follows the rise and fall of Lucchese crime family associates Henry Hill and his friends over a period from 1955 to 1980. But like so many of Scorsese's films the focus is on the characters and not so much on the plot. Joe Pesci's supporting role is perhaps the most memorable of his career. "Do I amuse you?" Ray Liotta is also excellent as the films narrator and main character. And as for Robert De Niro? He basically plays the same character he's played in most of his movies. So yeah, he was good too. The rest of the supporting cast serve to give the film depth as well as provide a lot of humor. It's a great movie. Maybe the best mob film ever. The only other possible contender will, I'm sure, be discussed in this blog at some point. 

I should note that the film is based on the nonfiction book Wiseguy by Nicholas Pileggi. The book tells the true story of Hill and his associates. Pileggi is currently believed to be working on a television adaptation of Goodfella.