OK so its time to look over one of my previous posts again and extend it even further to add in some extra stuff (is this just laziness?? I can't quite decide!) and this post will cover Martin Scorsese's critically acclaimed crime drama, Goodfellas. So let's give this un another look shall we???
The film itself starts in 1955 with Henry as a teenager (played by Christopher Serrone) who lives in East Brooklyn ad he longs to become one of the "wiseguys" and chooses to work for them at the local cabstand. However Henry's father soon finds out he has not been at school and beats him, as he doesn't want his son to have anything to do with the mob. However the mobsters manage to put a stop to this by threatening the local mailman by putting his "fuckin head in the oven first!" if he delivers another letter to Henry's house. After this Henry works full time under the wing of the boss Paulie Cicero (Paul Sorvino) and he also meets his two associates the smooth talking but lethal Jimmy "The Gent" Conway (Robert De Niro) and the psychotic loose canon Tommy DeVito (Joe Pesci). After being pinched by the cops for selling cigarettes off the back off a truck, Henry is taken to court, but tells them nothing, and is eventually let go where Jimmy tells him "Never rat on your friends and always keep your mouth shut".
As the film moves into the 1960s, Henry now in his 20s (as is Tommy) are making a solid living stealing cargo from the local airports, and they also pull off the Air France robbery, which sees Henry move up the ranks. By this time Henry also meets his soon to be wife Karen (Lorraine Bracco) a Jewish girl from the Five Towns in New York, initially they dont get on well, and Henry stood her up on their second date, but after Karen confronts him about it, Henry makes it up to her. After this Henry charms Karen with the glamourous side of his life, as he takes her out on expensive dates for meals and drinks. Henry also at one point defends her, by brutally beating up an abusive neighbour of Karen's, and despite her initial shock toward the incident, she admits that it turned her on, and soon after they marry.
Now into the 1970s, where things start to get more heavy as Henry and Jimmy host a party for Billy Batts (Frankie Vincent) who is a made man with the Gambino crime family. During the party, Tommy arrives with his date, where Billy first off warmly greets Tommy but then proceeds to wind him up about his past when he was just a boy who shined shoes, which enrages Tommy who leaves. Later on Tommy comes back and with Jimmy they both brutally beat up Billy, and later stab and kill him, and soon after bury his body out in the woods. With Batts being a made guy, this causes a serious problem for the three of them as Batts was murdered without consent. And during this period Tommy's psychosis continues as he teases and later kills a young hood Spider (Michael Imperioli) after Spider talked back to him for winding him up. Round about this time Henry also starts an affair with a girl Janice Rossi (Gina Mastrogiacomo), but Karen soon finds out about it and rows furiously with Henry. Soon after, Paulie expresses his concerns about Karen, but insists he can put things to rights, and in the meantime Henry go off with Jimmy on business down to Florida. However on beating up a bookie, things soon go awry as the bookie's sister is revealed to be a typist for the FBI, who gives them up, and Henry, Jimmy and Paulie serve a prison sentence.
After Henry is released, he gets involved in drug deals (behind Paulie's back who warned Henry not to get invovled) and he also comes across a very appealing business proposal from his friend and local mobster Morrie Kessler (Chuck Law). This turns out to be the legendary Lufthansa heist at JFK airport, where Jimmy and a small crew pull off a robbery where they stole over 6 million dollars. However as a result of the robbery, the crew all buy expensive things with their cut of the money, which infuriates Jimmy who expressly told them not to buy anything as it would attract unwanted attention. Soon after Jimmy has the participants of the heist murdered by Tommy in order to cut any link between himself and the robbery, this includes Morrie, Henry's close friend. Once the dust has cleared from the heist, Tommy receives the good news that he is set to be "made" and ingratiated into the crime family as a proper member. But it soon turns out to be a setup as Tommy is taken into a room by Tuddie (Paulie's brother) and is shot dead, as a revenge for killing Billy Batts and various other things. And from here the story moves into the 1980s were we start to see the downfall of Henry, who has become a drug addled mess and as he plans out a big drug deal he is arrested by the police and this later puts himself and his family in danger and he must find a way to try and keep himself alive from his mob associates as he faces having to go into witness protection.
Right from the start you just know that Goodfellas is a classic film, that certainly isn't far off the level of The Godfather. The first scene which definitely ranks as one of the most violent opening scenes in American cinema where Tommy and Jimmy finish off Batts, really grabs you by the throat and pulls you into the film straight off. The characters in Goodfellas are certainly very vividly drawn and Henry Hill himself is far from an angel, but he does appear to be a man who is out of his depth in this world. He is surrounded by vicious thieves and murderers and while he is a thief himself, he isn't depicted as a murderer, and as Hill in real life himself said, he lived in constant fear 24 hours a day, fearing that he might be killed himself at any moment. Hill's narration in the film is also really contrary with the events that occur in the film where he says he loved the life, and the thrill he got from it, but you also see Henry's utter shock and fear at his associates behaviour. This is probably best displayed in the scene after Tommy and Jimmy brutally bludgeon Billy Batts and stick him the boot of their car, they then go and have dinner at Tommy's mother's house, and Henry sits silently, while Tommy and Jimmy laugh and joke, despite what they have just done. But at the end of the film even though he is living in the witness protection program, he still has the nerve to complain about how boring and inconvenient has life has become since leaving the crime life behind. Hill since that time went on and suffered a few more behavioural lapses as he was arrested on several occassions for drug possession. Hill since then died in 2012 of a heart attack.
Performance wise there is precious little to fault here as the cast are all really strong and on top form. Ray Liotta is great as Henry Hill, as he starts off as a suave well dressed gangster, but ends up a total mess, burnt out on cocaine. Liotta perfectly grasps the (fancy word here) Hill's ambivalent emotions about the life, as one minute he loves the thrill of stealing, but the next he fears for his life. Ray has many highlights in the film such as the scene where Henry storms over and viciously pistol whips Karen's next door neighbour who tried to rape her and he says to him after "I swear on my fuckin mother, you touch her again and you're DEAD!". Then there is the scene where Karen holds Henry at gunpoint on their bed and Henry calmly persuades to lower the gun and she does, then Henry slaps her and takes the gun off her saying "Are you fucking crazy, Karen?! I got enough to worry about being fuckin whacked on the streets! I got enough to worry about then I gotta go home, FOR THIS?! I SHOULD FUCKING KILL YOU!". Ray also delivers the film's narration wonderfully as well as throughout he is given some great dialogue such as the opening scene where Henry stands in shock while Tommy and Jimmy finish off Batts and Henry narrates "as far back as I can remember I always wanted to be a gangster". Some of Henry's other good lines include the scene where Henry narrates while Paulie has agreed to be a business partner to one of Henry's business associates and Henry says "But now the guy's gotta come up with Paulie's money. Business bad? Fuck you, pay me. Oh, you had a fire? Fuck you, pay me. Place got hit by lightning, huh? Fuck you, pay me!". Then there is the scene where Henry narrates during the scene where the young Henry smashes the windscreens of some taxis and sets them on fire and runs away from the scene as the cars explode. And Henry narrates "One day some of the kids from the neighbourhood carried my mother's groceries all the way home. You know why? It was out of respect!". Then another really good line (and scene) from Ray is when he is busted by the narcs as he is about to leave his house and Henry narrates "For a second I thought I was dead. But when I heard all the noise, I knew they were cops. Only cops talk that way. If they were wiseguys. I wouldn't have heard a thing. I would have been dead." And then there is the final scene (SPOILER) where we see Henry stand just at the doorway of his suburban house after he has been relocated into witness protection. And in the scene Henry narrates and complains about how "I'm an average nobody. I get to live the rest of my life like a schnook!".
De Niro is also really good as Jimmy "The Gent" Conway, he plays him with just the right amount of charm and menace. De Niro naturally has some great moments in the film as well such as the scene where he tells off one of his crew, Johnny Roastbeef from the Lufthansa heist not to buy anything too extravagant to avoid attracting unwanted attention. And in the scene he says to Johnny "What did I tell you?! What did I tell you?! You don't buy anything!" and as Johnny apologises and walks away Jimmy looks on in disgust saying "Fat fuck! He oughtta wear a sign!". Then there is the scene where the young bartender, Spider talks back at Tommy, which stuns Jimmy, Tommy and the others during a card game. And Jimmy "I didn't fucking hear right! He's gotta lot of fuckin balls this kid!" and he puts down a dollar bill and says "This is for you. Good for you, don't take shit off nobody! He's got alot of fuckin balls this kid!" and Jimmy teases a seething Tommy by saying to him "Are you gonna let this fucking punk get away with that?! What's the matter with you? What's the world coming to?!" and out of the blue Tommy takes out his gun and shoots Spider dead! Then there is the scene Jimmy talks to the young teenage Henry after he was first arrested and released he says to Henry "You took your first pinch like a man, and learned the two most valuable lessons in life. Never rat on your friends and always keep your mouth shut".
Paul Sorvino is also excellent as Paulie Cicero, and he admitted in a later interview that it was a part that he initially found really difficult to capture, until he saw a look he gave himself one day in a mirror which apparently scared the hell out of him! Sorvino has some good moments in the film such as the scene where Paulie warns Henry not to get involved in drugs and he says to him to "Stay away from the garbage" and as Henry tries to reassure Paulie, he interrupts him saying "Don't make a jerk out of me! Just don't do it!". And Paulie continues by saying how he doesn't want to end up like one of his business associates "I ain't gonna get fucked like Gribbs. Gribbs is 70 years old and the fucking guy is gonna die in prison. Ain't gonna happen to me! So I'm warning every everybody, it could be my son, anbody! Gribbs got 20 years for just saying hello to some fuck sneaking behind his back, selling junk, I don't need that. Ain't gonna happen to me! And if you see anybody fucking around with this shit you're gonna tell me right?" and as Henry casually says yes, he slaps Henry "That means anybody!".
Lorraine Bracco is terrific as Karen Hill, and she is a far cry from the quiet wives off The Godfather as such as Kay and Connie. Karen is far more fesity and has the guts to stand up to Henry and confront him about his infidelities, and she also remains strong when Henry serves his time in prison. Lorraine also has some great moments in the film such as the scene where Henry stood Karen up for their 2nd date and she makes Tommy drive her to confront Henry and she says "You got some nerve standing me up! Who do you think you are? Frankie Valli or some kind of big shot?!". Then there is the scene where Karen confronts Henry over his sneaking about as she suspects he is two-timing her and she says "I know there is something goin on! I look in your face and I know that you're lying!". And as Henry throws a table lamp at her she yells back "Go on go to your ready made whores that's all your good for! GET OUT OF MY LIFE! I CAN'T STAND YOU!!!". And later there is a great scene where Karen pays a visit to Henry's girlfriend's apartment where she tries to talk her on the buzzer outside Janice's flat. And Karen frantically presses all the buttons to try and get into the building and she says "If you don't let me in I'm gonna tell everyone in this building that in 2R, Rossie, you are nothing but a WHORE!". And Karen continues to prove her point by phoning the building superintendent and says "Is this the superintendent?! Yes I want you to know that you have a whore living in 2R, Rossi, Janice Rossi!" and she yells down the phone "He's my husband! GET YOUR OWN GODDAMN MAN!". And last of all there is perhaps Lorraine's best scene where Karen meets with Jimmy near the end of the film and he tells her that he has some dresses for her to look at down an alleyway. And Karen nervously walks down the alley seeing some workers but she changes her mind and drives away and later get's out the car sobbing as Henry comforts her. Lorraine also delivers some of the film's narration as well and she too get's some good dialogue as well such as in the scene where Henry has just viciously beaten Karen's next door neighbour with his gun and he gives it to her to hide. And Karen admits in her narration "I know there are women, like my best friends, who would have gotten out there the minute their boyfriend gave them a gun to hide. But I didn't. I got to admit the truth. It turned me on."
And now we get to Joe Pesci who delivers the film's best performance as the hot headed and psychopathic crook, Tommy and he manages to be both funny and chilling all at once and he sets up the tone for his volatile character in the film's violent opening scene with Tommy viciously finishing off Batts with a knife. Pesci has numerous highlights in the film starting with the famous scene where Tommy holds court making everybody laugh while he is at a club. And Henry laughs and laughs and says "You're really funny" but all of a sudden Tommy's attitude changes and he asks "What do you mean? How I talk?" and Henry says "No, just how you tell the story and everything, You're funny.". And Tommy becomes more serious and says "Funny how? Am I like a clown? Do I amuse you? Do I make you laugh? Do I fuckin amuse you? Tell me what's funny?!". And Henry nervously tries to reason again and Tommy becomes more intense and says "No, YOU said I was funny. Tell me what the FUCK is so funny about me?! Tell me! Tell me what's funny?!". But then Henry soon twigs that Tommy is kidding him on and the table all relax and laugh and Tommy laughs saying "I sometimes wonder about you, Henry. You may fold under questioning!". Then there is the scene where Tommy arrives during the party held for Billy Batts (played great by Frankie Vincent) and the two of them get into a rather tense exchange as Batts says to him "If I was gonna break your balls I would tell ya to go home and get your shinebox!". And as the two men appear to back down and drink up, Batts says "Now go home and get your fuckin shinebox!" which causes Tommy to explode "MOTHERFUCKIN MUTT! YOU FUCKIN PIECE OF SHIT! You bought your button you big fake tough guy!". And later on Tommy comes back and beats the shit out of Batts along with Jimmy, and afterward as Tommy and Jimmy wrap up Batts's body in table cloths, Tommy covered in blood says to a shocked Henry "I didn't want to get blood on your floor!".
Then there is the somewhat chilling scene where Tommy walks into Stacks Edwards (played by Samuel L Jackson) apartment who participated in the Lufthtansa heist and he says to Stacks "We we're supposed to be here at 9. Its now 11:30." and he produces a silenced gun and points it to the back of Stacks's head and says "You were always late. You were even late for your own fuckin funeral!" and proceeds to shoot Stacks in the head. Another great scene is where Tommy berates Spider for not getting him a drink and he says "What am I mirage? I just asked you for a fuckin drink!". And Spider who has a stutter get's Tommy's back up and Tommy yells at him "Go get me a fuckin drink! Move it ya little prick! You walk like fuckin Step n Fetchit! Dance! Dance the fuckin drink back here!" and he then produces his gun and shoots it at Spider's feet, catching him in the foot. And in the next scene Tommy starts teasing Spider as we see Spider back tending the bar with a big bandage wrapped around his foot. And Tommy says to him "That bandage on your foot is as big as your fuckin head! Give us a couple of fuckin steps there, Spider. You fuckin bullshitter you. Tell the truth you are looking sympahty, is that it sweetie?!". And as Spider snaps back "why don't you go fuck yourself, Tommy??" Tommy shortly after kills the young hood, shooting him six times in the chest, and after Henry tells them that Spider is dead, Tommy simply says "Good shot. What do you want from me. I'm a good shot! He was fucking rat anyway. His whole family were rats. He would grow up to be a fuckin rat!". Chilling stuff.
Finally moving onto the director, Martin Scorsese does a superb job here and rarely ever puts a foot wrong and from a technical point of view, the film is just as good as anything Scorses has done, as there are many great visual scenes, such as where Henry escorts Karen through the bowels of a club they are going to in order to skip the queue at the front door is definitely one of the most memorable. And there is the great pull in zoom shot where Henry meets with Jimmy in a diner toward the end where they discuss Henry's case. The film also neatly closes with a shot of Tommy shooting his gun, which was a direct reference to a classic crime film, The Bank Job.
Then there is the film's soundtrack which is terrific as Scorsese provides a perfect choice of song for each scene from the start of the film with Tony Bennett's "Rags to riches" to the film's bittersweet ending with Sid Vicious's version of "My way". Other tracks worthy of mention also include Cream's "Sunshine of my love", "Layla" by Derek and the Dominos, The Harptones "Life is but a dream", Rolling Stones "Gimme Shelter", "Magic Bus" by The Who, "What is life" by George Harrison, "Can't we be sweethearts" by The Cleftones, "He's sure the boy I love" by The Crystals and "Jump into the fire" by Harry Nilsson.
As for flaws..... well Goodfellas is so good its hard to be harsh and nit pick but the main issue with the film however has to be that after Tommy's character is bumped off, the film takes a dip and the energy and momentum of the film drops. And in the last 30 minutes or so, its all about Henry's frantic state of mind as he tries to put his drug deal together, and picking up his brother from hospital and getting him to stir the tomato sauce for their dinner, while at the same he is paranoid about helicopters following him outside. It all becomes a bit bogged down with inconsequential details at this point, and all Henry's running around threatens to drag the pace of the film and its momentum down. Although it still does feature the excellent scene where Karen meets with Jimmy and after he tells he has some nice dresses for her in his warehouse, down an alley, she fearfully leaves rather than check it out. But the film does somewhat end on a bit of anti-climax but then again at that point we are dealing with Hill's downfall so you can forgive the ending for that.
So that's it for my exhaustive re-look at Goodfellas and it still remains one of the greatest films of the 1990s although if I had to pick a favourite I would say Casino just pips it to the post, but overall Goodfellas is a classic crime film and one that can't be missed.
And with that I shall bid ye's goodnight and will be back soon with another post.
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