Overrated, glamorises violence and crime

Rating: 1/10 (5 December 2003)

This is actually quite a nasty film, with no likable characters at all - it's made from Henry Hill's perspective (played by Ray Liotta) but I didn't like him; I'm not sure whether he was supposed to come across sympathetically but he didn't to me.
The film has some scenes of extreme violence, which I found pretty distasteful - watching someone get repeatedly graphically stabbed, having their head bashed in with a pistol butt, or having their head kicked in, isn't an enjoyable experience for me, call me weird.
There is little plot to the film, and what there is is slow and drawn out. You don't really care what happens to any of the characters, in fact I wanted them all to be put behind bars personally! This film sends out entirely the wrong message: being in the mafia is cool, violence is cool, being a criminal is cool. The 'Tommy' character is especially nasty and violent, and some of his scenes provide for uncomfortable viewing.
At the end of the film, Henry Hill avoids prison by ratting on his friends, not because of any high principles or because he's seen the light, but just to stay out of prison.
I know it's probably news to some of the people who have given this film high ratings but violence and crime are not glamorous and not something to be celebrated.
4/10 overall