Goodfellas (CLASSIC FILM REVIEW)

Released in 1990, Goodfellas follows Henry Hill as he tackles life in the mob, his relationship with his wife, Karen, and his rollercoaster adventures in and out of jail with his mob partners Jimmy Conway and Tommy Devito.

 

Firstly, I found Goodfellas extremely confusing. So much was happening throughout the 2 and a half hour movie that I didn’t know where to look half the time. Someone was either being shot or doing the shooting. I’m still unsure where these
men were getting their money I won't lie. I know Paulie, (the main money man), had some incredible opportunity for the three main characters of the movie, but their stacks of cash appeared from nowhere half the time. 

 

Now lets take a second to appreciate the cast- Robert Deniro as Jimmy, Joe pesci as Tommy, and Ray Liotta as narrator Henry. Another honourable mention is the mother of the director Martin Scorsese; Catherine who played Tommys' hilarious mother! If someone mentions a classic movie with gangs, violence, gambling and everything in between, I know prime Robert Deniro will be making a presence. To be honest, the man doesn’t even have a prime era, hes still every bit as incredible in movies today. 

 

Fun fact time: According to IMDB, the Warner Brothers Studio was initially very nervous about the film, due to its extreme violence and language. The film reportedly received the worst preview response in the studio's history. Martin Scorsese said that "the numbers were so low, it was funny." Nevertheless, the film was released without alteration to overwhelming critical acclaim, cementing Scorsese's reputation as one of America's foremost filmmakers. I don’t blame them to be honest, we’ve probably all seen the scene where Tommy started shooting bullets out of his gun for fun and shot a waiter in the foot; if I was Warner Bros, I’d be scared too, who knows what went on behind the scenes! In all seriousness though, Martin Scorsese is known to direct classics! Just for his directing alone, he has 67 credits on IMDB with films including The Wolf of Wall Street, Shutter Island, Casino, New York New York and about a billion other films starring the likes of Deniro and Leonardo Decaprio. He clearly has a preference, lol! But that is because Scorsese is the right director - the only director - for this material. He knows it inside out. The great formative experience of his life was growing up in New York's Little Italy as an outsider who observed everything - an asthmatic kid who couldn't play sports, whose health was too bad to allow him to lead a normal childhood, who was often overlooked, but never missed a thing and its with life experiences like that, that provide you with classics like these. 

 

As i've already mentioned, there’s no specific theme or plot of this movie. That’s because its based on the real events of Henry Hill’s life in the mafia. If there’s ever an off chance that you want to know what its like to be in a gang, watch the Goodfellas folks, Henry’s experience will probably put you off for life. For example, there's some points of the movie where I think, “wow, Jimmy is such a good friend to Henry, he's so caring and supportive” and then I thank the lord that I don’t have friends like Jimmy, planning my execution. Another example, I think: “Tommy's house must be such a safe place; I bet the dinner is delicious- there's nothing better than a homecooked meal” and then I remember that the trio murdered a man just before. I mean, I suppose the friendship group is unpredicatable, if you do enjoy the element of surprise! Rather you than me. 

 

I need to discuss the elephant in the room. Henry was absolutely awful to Karen, it makes me so sad, especially because I know this was all based on true events. It makes me wonder where Karen would’ve ended up, had she not have met Henry. In the movie she mentioned just how different she was to the other mob wives and how crazy they were and then an hour later she was flushing illegal substances down the toilet. I loved her character and her feisty attitude. Some may argue that she was absolutely mental in the head, but I think she was misunderstood and frightened to leave the relationship she gave up everything for. Without Henry she had nothing, but I don’t think she understood just how capable of living without him she was. 

 

I’m so glad I watched this classic. Whenever I stated I hadn’t seen it, people were ashamed to know me. I don’t think it’s a movie I particularly need to watch again, but it's definitely one I don’t regret sticking on. Honourabe mention to the cast for being so compatible with each other. I particularly loved Deniro and Pesci's on screen friendship and I let out a little yelp when Jimmy got his phone call. Very emotional and very realistic. 

 

Plenty of action throughout, with a side of shock factor. 

 

4/5.