Martin Scorsese happens to be one of my favorite directors, and this was one of his movies I hadn’t seen. Anytime Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro get together, however, the result is bound to be pretty awesome. This was no exception. Goodfellas is a mobster movie, similar to the Godfather movies, but it has it’s own unique flavor and feel. Goodfellas follows the actions of Henry Hill (played by Ray Liotta) who was a gangster for the local mob throughout the 60s, 70s, and 80s. Hill had wanted to be a gangster his whole life, but as happens in most mob movies, the gangster lifestyle doesn’t exactly work out for Hill and his associates, Conway (De Niro) and DeVito (Joe Pesci). The film chronicles Hill’s descent into the criminal world, until at the end of the film he is broken, jailed, addicted to cocaine, and forced to enroll in the Witness Protection Program to get away from his former life.
Goodfellas evokes The Godfather quite a bit, but has it’s own unique flavor. The casting is top-notch, as every single actor puts in a wonderful performance, although the highlight for me has to be De Niro. The plot is obviously Goodfellas’ strongest point, however – the movie kept me interested from start to finish. The only (minor) critiques I have about the film are kind of out of it’s control – basically, this film is good, but The Godfather is better. That said, if you want a quality gangster movie and have seen the Godfather one too many times already, Goodfellas is certainly a wonderful movie, and you will definitely enjoy it.
Score: 4/5 (A 4 is a movie that I really really liked, and would definitely see again, but some very minor issues kept me from rating it as one of my favorite movies ever. It does come with my completely unqualified recommendation unless you really don’t like that particular genre of movie.)
