Everybody wants to be a Gangster...

Rating: 10/10 (16 September 2004)

"As far back as I can remember, I've always wanted to be a Gangster". This classic line by Ray Liotta's character Henry Hill has been heard numerous times, and it starts of Martin Scorsese's unforgettable Gangster-movie "GoodFellas"...
This film portrays the life of the mob in a way that (at the time) had never been seen before. We follow Henry Hill who as a young kid watches the way the gangsters in his neighborhood takes over the whole city and rises to great power. He starts working for them, doing minor jobs. But later he would become one of the most important persons in the whole dynasty.
What really has to be said about this film is that it's TOP entertainment. I've watched "GoodFellas" about 5-6 times since I bought it some years ago, and it's just as entertaining every time. The film is so masterful at every point, that it's just a joy to watch. But what's making Gangster-films like this so enjoying? If you think about it...everybody wants to be a gangster. We all want the money, the glamour and the power. Which guy wouldn't want to walk around, wearing those shiny suits, getting all those women and doing WHATEVER he wants? ***Spoiler Following*** But then again...many of the well-known Gangster-movies also shows the down-side of the gangster-life, and doesn't exactly have an happy ending. This film is one of them. ***End Of Spoiler***.
When this film came, back in 1990, I'm sure it was breaking grounds. Being a gangster has never looked better. Unlike the "dead-serious" films people had seen earlier, this film had lots of charm and funny gangster-humor. That's why it makes the gangster-life look so lovely. Scorsese also shows us some of the coolest and most stylish gangster-characters ever seen on film. And these characters are being brought to us by actors like Robert De Niro, Ray Liotta, Joe Pesci and Paul Sorvino, who is all giving some terrific and unforgettable performances. Pesci who won the Oscar Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, steals the show in about every scene where his character Tommy DeVito is involved. A funny, short guy, with an even shorter temper, that you'll never forget. De Niro is just as good as we know he can be, in his role as the mob-veteran Jimmy Conway, and Paul Sorvino plays Paul Cicero, the boss of the dynasty, in an absolutely convincing way. The main-character Henry Hill is played by an impressive Ray Liotta, which I have never seen better.
"GoodFellas" is full of classic scenes and moments that you'll want to watch over and over again. ***Spoilers Following*** The restaurant-scene that introduces us to the grown-up Tommy for the first time..."How am I funny to you? Do I make you laugh, like a clown? Do I amuse you?". Tommy's revenge when he gets embarrassed by Billy Batts, and the scenes where he's picking on Spider..."It was a good shot!". ***End Of Spoilers*** These are only a few of them. If I'm going to complain about something in this film, then it's Lorraine Bracco in her role as Henry's wife Karen. Don't get me wrong, she's doing a good performance, but she doesn't convince me in EVERY scene she appears in. And when actors like Liotta, Pesci and De Niro gleams in their roles, she falls a little short in comparison.
The directing is one of the best things in this film. Martin Scorsese is an artist behind the camera, and he directs this film in a perfect way. It's so exciting to watch this film, and I really like the scenes where the camera smoothly flies through the restaurants, bars and so on. And with Henry and Karen's voice-overs on top of it, it's all perfection. And I'm not going to forget to mention the soundtrack. Numerous great songs from the 60's and the 70's plays in the background during the major part of the movie, and gives us the right feeling for the setting of the film.
I haven't seen "Mean Streets" (1973) yet, but if I'm going to pick out the best film by Martin Scorsese, then it would stand between this one and "Taxi Driver" (1976). It's hard to choose since it's two very different films. But both of them are classics, and films to be watched over and over again. "GoodFellas" is a masterpiece, and in the Gangster-genre it's only being topped by Italian director Sergio Leone's "Once Upon A Time In America" (1984), in my opinion. If you haven't seen it, then you sure is missing out one of the best Gangster-flicks that you'll ever see. And if you've already seen it, see it one more time and you'll probably consider it just as good and entertaining as the last time you saw it!
10 out of 10