There's always one in every crowd

Rating: 6/10 (9 July 2015)

I didn't read more than a few other reviews and they were all 10 stars. I'm going to be the fly in the ointment and give it a 7, which still ain't bad. And it ain't - I mean isn't - bad at all, by any means. Nor, in my book, is it anywhere near great. Not by a long shot. It may be due, largely, although not sure yet, to Joe Pesci's one note characterization (way too typical of him). A little "f" word here and there never hurt nobody but goes just so far. It becomes not so much an aspect of his psychopathology but, with its over emphasis, weakens it, parodying what might be very legitimate. He was insane, and not a joke, but the character becomes jokey. How Ray Liotta did not get acknowledged for a much more realistic portrayal, and get at least a nomination for a part he brought dimensionality to, is a mystery. But, of course, the whole concept of an Academy Award is a mystery in and of itself. I mean, after all - Charlton Heston (in anything)?; Shirley Jones when you have Janet Leigh?; Rita Moreno opposite Judy Garland as well as Fay Bainter and Lotte Lenya?; not to mention the even more outrageous selection of Chakiris vs Clift and Geo. C. Scott?; Grace Kelly vs. Judy Garland????? Now, really! That one is going too far. And so on and forth. Give me Pesci in My Cousin Vinny anytime (not even a nomination). Aside from that - there were moments in the film that were clearly wonderful. Bracco and all the other molls getting their faces and nails done, scanning and re-scanning each of their thoughtless faces; the stop motion a dozen or more times capturing the characters silent, still; De Niro smiling at you with one of his 2 faces barely showing the 2nd face that will soon emerge and become the easy victor; the sense of confusion and then addiction that Liotta captures; the latter part where he describes in repetitive detail, in his drug-addled way, the order of the evening and transporting the pounds of cocaine to another city; dinner table with Mom and the 3 boys while the body in the trunk is writhing. Etc. A story told well enough in all of its pathetic realism. Scorcese is usually very good. It's this film that wasn't.