"Am I A Clown, Do I Make You Laugh?"

Rating: 8/10 (13 February 2005)

There are two halves to this movie. The first half is the opening of the world to Henry Hill (Ray Liotta), the world is his oyster. The second half is the claustrophobic closing in on his world by everyone. It is how director Martin Scorcese is able to get the audience to feel these emotions where the genius of Goodfellas comes from. The visual cues given to the audience further the story along as much as the dialog does. Who's-who of Italian actors all star in this story about the mob in New York before Henry Hill enters the "Witness Protecion Program." Based on the book by Hill, it details his entire life, from a young boy wanting to be part of the mob, to his 20s when he's part of the clan, getting into the back doors of his favorite clubs, making money off airline heists. It then shows his downfall, drugs begin to take over his and his wife's life (played by Lorraine Bracco of Dr. Melfi fame), leading up to the defining moment of the movie when the Hills are shadowed as they move about town by an ominous looking helicopter all day. The feeling of the walls closing in is choking as Hill knows it's checkmate and he has to go over to the other side. The movie also stars Robert De Niro as Jimmy Conway, who like Hill is not Italian so can never become a "made man" but still runs the mob while most of the higher-ups are in jail, Joe Pesci, who won an Oscar for his role, as the hotheaded Tommy DeVito, and various other well known Italian actors. Considered one of the finest movies involving the mob not named The Godfather, Goodfellas shows both how wonderful it can be to be in the mob, but also the costs, the emotional strains on the families, and the ultimate price paid. To this day, Henry Hill is still in "The Program," while most of the characters chronicled in the film are either dead or just getting out of jail. A great visual look at both the good and bad of the mob, and all that goes with it.