Goodfellas (1990):

Starring:

Robert De Niro - James Conway

Ray Liotta - Henry Hill

Joe Pesci - Tommy DeVito

Lorraine Bracco - Karen Hill

Paul Sorvino - Paul Cicero

Frank Sivero - Frankie Carbone

Tony Darrow - Sonny Bunz

Mike Starr - Frenchy

Frank Vincent - Billy Batts

Gina Mastrogiacomo - Janice Rossi

Director:

Martin Scorsese

Synopsis:

Martin Scorsese explores the life of organized crime with his gritty, kinetic adaptation of Nicolas Pileggi's best-selling Wiseguy, the true-life account of mobster and FBI informant Henry Hill. Set to a true-to-period rock soundtrack, the story details the rise and fall of Hill, a half-Irish, half-Sicilian New York kid who grows up idolizing the "wise guys" in his impoverished Brooklyn neighborhood. He begins hanging around the mobsters, running errands and doing odd jobs until he gains the notice of local chieftain Paulie Cicero (Paul Sorvino), who takes him in as a surrogate son. As he reaches his teens, Hill (Ray Liotta) is inducted into the world of petty crime, where he distinguishes himself as a "stand-up guy" by choosing jail time over ratting on his accomplices. From that moment on, he is a part of the family. Along with his psychotic partner Tommy (Joe Pesci), he rises through the ranks to become Paulie's lieutenant; however, he quickly learns that, like his mentor Jimmy (Robert DeNiro), his ethnicity prevents him from ever becoming a "made guy," an actual member of the crime family. Soon he finds himself the target of both the feds and the mobsters, who feel that he has become a threat to their security with his reckless dealings.

Review:

I already know that I am going to get some major flack about this one from one person in perticular & potentially a lot more people. I was given tremendous amounts of shit by a friend for the fact that I haden't seen "Goodfellas" but I had seen Soul Plane. OK so now I've seen it &..... Meh. It was a typical Mobster movie. You have the wise guy mobster dialogue, guys getting insulted by other guys, bitch slapping, fighting, shooting, killing, blood, guts etc. My main problem with this film was that obviously the acting was incredible. You don't have a Scorsese film without incredible lead & supporting acting. I mean Bobby De Niro is fucking in it, so obviously it's great. My problem was that it took them so long to set up everything that I completely lost interest. Two hours long. Throughout the first hour there is very little action because it's nothing but talking to set up who this guy is, who this guys is, don't fuck with this guy etc. There are a few actual bloody scenes, stabbings & all that, but they are spread out & they are very short. The second half does really pick up however, with tons of mob style executions & murders. You've also got the FBI informant part which is very good, then the fact that everyone turns on him & is trying to kill him. However, even thought it's action packed & fast paced, it's a giant cluster fuck of everyone killing everyone & maybe my full attention was on the TV but I was completely lost & I just wanted it to be over so I didn't rewind it. Overall, outstanding acting all around, way too much dialogue in the front half, not enough structure in the second half. I would have loved it more if it was under two hours.

Rotten Tomatoes: 97%

Flixster: 96%

67%

Lead Acting: 15/15

Supporting Cast: 15/15

Plot: 6/10

Compared To The Genre: 5/10

Cinematography: 10/20

Intrigue: 8/20

Extra: 8/10