Is it really a masterpiece?

Rating: Null/10 (26 February 2001)

I just had the opportunity to revisit Goodfellas after a couple years. I was captivated from beginning to end, but I need to take a somewhat controversial stand on the movie. I thinks it's good, far better than most of what Hollywood churns out, but a classic for the ages? I don't think you should go that far.
Here's my main problem: This movie does not contain a single likable character. All the performances are top notch, but that's not my point. I couldn't identify with Ray Liotta. I can understand how his character was seduced my the mob lifestyle, but as an adult he's no better than anyone else around him. In the Godfather, within the encapsulated mob-world with its own set of peculiar rules, the Corleones were actually good people. They respected their wives, they only killed when necessary for business, and their loyalty never wavered. It was easy for me, the audience member, to become entranced and actually cheer them on. In Goodfellas, on the other hand, all the men are essentially a--holes. De Niro is crazy and paranoid, Pesci is insecure and sadistic, and Ray Liotta may have charm, but he has no ethical compulsions (even by mob standards) and will try to get away with whatever he can.
I bring all this up because I need to have a character I can care about. The tragic fall of Henry is only tragic if I cared about him to begin with.
Secondly, I would have liked a more tangable plot. I don't mean a cookie cutter Hollywood plot, but at least give me something in the first act that gets resolved in the third. The movie plays like a series of unconnected vignettes about mob life. Yes, it's a fascinating glimpse inside the mob, but by 1990 or 91, (whenever this came out) we've already had plenty of fascinating glimpses inside the mob. When Ray Liotta gives us some talk-over narrative like "Back then we did what we wanted and we didn't care." I'm thinking, "Yes Ray, we know. This isn't our first gangster movie."
If this is your favorite movie, fine, I have no problem with that. Better Goodfellas than this guy back at school who once told me that Mel Gibson's "Man Without a Face" was his favorite movie. But give Godfather 1 or 2 another watch, and tell me if you see what I'm saying about the likability issue.