Unparalled Gangster movie

Rating: 10/10 (15 May 2010)

No matter how many times you watch it, Goodfellas is one of those movies which you just never grow out of. Arguably the best gangster film of the decade (but I think of all time). Martin Scorsese is able to generate just about every kind of tone a film could have; humorous, touching, depressing, grim. This is superbly written and acted, and ten times more down-to-Earth and involving than the Godfather. If there is anyone out there who hasn't seen Goodfellas.....see it.
The first thing we see on screen are the words 'The following is based on a true story' or something like that. In the twenty first century, those words are the hottest marketing gig going. Goodfellas was before those days. Next we meet Henry Hill, who became a gangster at grade school age, and went on to become hot stuff. He helped pull off the famous Lufthansa heist, but did he and his buddies get away with it?
Goodfellas is able to cover about three and a half decades in two hours, without felling too slow or too fast. The story, is direct and detailed, and allows the viewer to become 'one of the boys'. Goodfellas feels like a party almost, with an occasional ballroom brawl here and there.
I'm assuming because of its Oscar snub, that the film wasn't very popular when it was released, but of course brilliance doesn't come right away. It took years for the world to recognize just how groundbreaking Citizen Kane was. No movie is perfect, but Goodfellas is pretty close.