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GoodFellas (1990)

A review by Damian Cannon.
Copyright © Movie Reviews UK 1997
Fascinating, evocative, murderous saga of day-to-day life in a tight-knit Mafia family. As a young kid Henry Hill (Ray Liotta) spends his time looking across the street, watching the local Mafiosi. They're the guys who always have smart clothes, drive flashy cars and do whatever they want. It sure looks good to Henry, so he strolls over and insinuates himself by doing little jobs for the gangsters. Paul Cicero (Paul Sorvino) takes a liking to the keen young lad and takes him on as a sort of apprentice wise-guy. So his parents don't like Henry hanging around with all these bad influences? So what! With his new found friends Henry can easily put the frighteners on the postman so that his parents never know when he misses school. Perhaps the bundles of cash and sharp suits give it away but who cares, Henry is on the up-and-up. When Henry "loses his cherry" by being arrested and not revealing anything, Paulie, James Conway (Robert De Niro), Tommy DeVito (Joe Pesci) and the rest of the hoodlums gather round - Henry's initiation is complete, he's a "goodfella".

Skipping forward a few years, Henry is a busy man; a bit of protection, some racketeering, a dash of fencing and a touch of hijacking. These are the good times - money flows like water and everyone treats them with respect, even the cops. Women are everywhere, attracted to the scent of wealth, power and (perhaps) danger. Eventually, by chance, Henry meets a nice young lady, Karen (Lorraine Bracco), who happens to be Jewish. A stunning wedding, new house and kids follow in short order. Amazingly, Karen doesn't realise just what Henry's involved in, although all becomes clear on attending a few Mafia wives party. With lots of money and no taste, this is a select and inbred group. Meanwhile Henry continues with girlfriends and nightclubs - settling down means something different for wiseguys. With everything in the palm of their hands, for the taking, these crooks seem invincible.

Inevitably cracks begin to show in this magnificent edifice, after a while, despite the best efforts of Paulie to keep everything together. Tommy, quite obviously psychotic, winds up killing a "made man" (an important and protected Mafioso). This deed is long remembered. Henry gets sent down, along with Paulie, after making the mistake of shaking down the wrong man. However, even in jail these guys are special; with their own, separate cells and corrupt guards, life is pretty pleasant. Unfortunately on the outside things are different, with everyone deserting Karen during her time of need. After all, who wants to be around when Henry can't do anything for them? It's a cut-throat, selfish business and no one gives favours away. In prison, drugs prove to be the Hill's salvation, but also their nemesis when Henry finally gets released.

An astonishingly violent, yet wonderfully alluring, epic, it seems almost beyond belief that GoodFellas is based on real life. The milieu that Henry gets involved with is nothing special, they're just ordinary Mafiosi. Sometimes they kill, occasionally steal, but mostly they enjoy being intimidating and feeling that they're respected (fear equals respect in this context). However, this is a pure exercise in self-deception. No one visualises their line of work as wrong because they only ever hang round with each other, outsiders are never permitted to enter their paranoid assembly. The same situation holds for the wives - because they're all in the same position after a while they're just glad that their man is out there, putting his life on the line for a few more fur coats. It's a weird fiction. The genius of Scorsese is not just that he lays all of this in front of us, in every gory detail, but that he makes it desirable!

The script is meandering, complex and enthralling. With its mark of authenticity, the dialogue seems absolutely spot on - accurate and believable in its every idiom. When voiced by Scorses' vast array of characters the words spring to life, filling every phrase with energy and illuminating the speaker with a glint of recognition. However, De Niro and Pesci move far beyond this point; the pair inhabit their characters so thoroughly, taking on every mannerism and tic, that they become deeply unnerving. Pesci is stunning as a volatile, on-edge killer while De Niro is no less menacing as a quieter, paranoid killer. While the story twists and turns, exploring minute details of the mobsters existence, absolute control is kept over every technical issue. The camera-work is exceptional, smoothly gliding one moment then snapping into a freeze-frame the next. Together with the perfect soundtrack, which mirrors the mood of key scenes closely, these issues enhance GoodFellas atmosphere to an all-enveloping degree. A superb experience, where every moment counts, from a dedicated film-maker.

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