Outstanding screenplay (or novel) but flat directing (rental)

Rating: 7/10 (30 April 2017)

When i read the book, i was illuminated by the way it sticks to the golden rule of great stories: unusual character in a unusual place - -- so at the core it's about a teen telling that becoming a criminal is the best occupation in the world at a time when those Goodfellas owned indeed the city... It was an extraordinary inside view of the underworld during the years that follows what was depicted in the Godfather...
About the movie, it's a good thing that the author worked on the screenplay and it's true that the narrator comments are nearly what was written... However i found that Scorcese fails to bring a visual punch in his scenes... sometimes it looks like an illustrated tale, other times, the key moments are plain because key facts have been omitted (essentially that they were always on the run to invent new scheme, that they were powerful because they corrupt a lot and that JFK was their store..) and honestly, he fails to properly build a tension! The cast is good and those background team found there the part of their career but in no way, RDN can pass for a Irish man... So the movie exists only by its original screenplay and its talented cast but if you look for a real punch, prefer the book instead!