what a ride

Rating: 9/10 (12 July 2008)

'Goodfellas' could be described as "'The Godfather' on speed," but that wouldn't really be accurate. The two movies are very different. The mobsters in 'Godfather' are dignified by comparison. Those in 'Goodfellas' have practically been driven mad by power, money, and eventually, dope. At least one of them, Joe Pesci's Tommy, is quite literally insane. The film moves at a lightning pace, narration provided by the character Henry Hill (Ray Liotta) and his wife Karen (Lorraine Bracco.) We see what takes places through Henry's (and to lesser degree, Karen's) descriptions, though it plays out right in front of us as well. Robert De Niro plays Jimmy, a charismatic gangster who is part of the mob but also something of a free agent; he can never be 'made' (the ultimate distinction the crime family can bestow on a member) because of his Irish roots. The same goes for Henry. He earns his place in the mob by starting at an early age as an errand boy willing to do anything, which endears him to the mob and their boss, Paulie. The violence in 'Goodfellas' is all the more appalling because for the most part, it is so casually administered. Tommy, for example, will kill anyone for the slightest perceived insult, with no more thought or regret than he would have ordering a drink. People are routinely beaten up savagely if they get crossways with any of the mob figures. But there is much more to the film than that, and I should point out there's a great deal of humor in the film, some of it laugh-out-loud funny. At times, it's like the most twisted comedy you've ever seen. 'Goodfellas' also shows how this 'community' of criminals and their families live; it takes place in and around New York City for the most part. Not surprisingly, it is a very tightly-knit group. Once Karen marries Henry, she has no contacts or life outside the extended 'family.' All of her female friends are wives of other mobsters. Birthdays, weddings, holidays... these are only shared with family insiders. This quirky little subculture has its own rules, standards and perks. For instance, there is one night a week designated for the men to take their mistresses out for drinks at a nightclub. Serving a prison term is accepted with a shrug; it seems almost all the men have served time at one point or another. Henry's first prison stint gets him congratulations from the others. It's like a badge of honor or a rite of passage. The lifestyle is very fast-paced, almost maniacally so. Everyone the mobsters deal with is paid off with wads of cash: cops, delivery boys, waiters, prison guards, you name it. Every gangster in the family carries with him a roll of hundreds (occasionally twenties); I've never seen so much currency exchange hands so frequently as in 'Goodfellas.' Eventually, despite Paulie's prohibition against it, several of the men including Henry begin dealing in drugs, specifically cocaine, which he and Karen are soon hooked on. The final scenes show a paranoid, out of control Henry totally wired from the coke, backed into a corner, the only way out being to turn government informant and enter the witness protection program. Turns out old Don Corleone, in that very different film 'The Godfather,' was right. Drugs did end up destroying the mob to a large degree. 'Goodfellas' shows that, but what an insane thrill ride it must have been... like a roller-coaster going a thousand miles an hour straight down into hell.