Possibly the Greatest Mob Portrayal in the History of Cinema

Rating: 9/10 (31 August 2013)

Goodfellas is one of the most iconic films of all-time. It's often listed as one of the greatest movies of all-time and the famous "funny guy" scene has been parodied countless times. It struck a huge impact on the genre and influenced countless gangster films that came after it. But why is that? Let's find out!
Firstly, the story and how it's told. While the story in Goodfellas about the rise and fall of a gangster is nothing new, it's the way that Scorsese tells the story that makes it so compelling. The movie opens immediately with Henry, Jimmy, and Tommy driving late at night in the highway and then stopping their car to check their trunk and then... it turns out that there's a guy who's all bloodied up there and then Tommy stabs the guy a few times and Jimmy finishes him off by shooting him at point blank and then boom! The movie starts and it never slows down. What's so effective about this opening is that it immediately grabs your attention. We don't start out with any boring exposition dialogue, we get thrown right in the middle of the murder and it makes the audience want to find out why they killed this guy. It's a brilliant opening scene and it's one of the greatest in all of cinema in my opinion.
The rest of the film goes through the life of Henry Hill from his teenage years working at a mafia-owned cabstand to dealing drugs behind their back at a brisk, fast pace. This movie has a lot of plot and it could've been really long and boring if it was made by a weaker director but Scorsese keeps the plot going at a fast pace and uses a lot of interesting shooting and editing choices to keep the film interesting.
The first half of the film shows the positive side of being a mobster as we get to see Henry take Karen to the Copacabana, steal trucks, rob an airport, and beat the snot out of a man for touching his girl. A lot of people say that this film glamorizes the lifestyle of a gangster from watching this half but I think it's necessary because it makes it believable why Henry would want to join the mob in the first place and it makes the audience enjoy the lifestyle while watching it. The thing that makes this part of the film so enjoyable is how fast-paced it is. We go through all this plot and information in a fast-paced manner so we never get bored in such a long film. Also, the shooting and editing in this film is excellent. Scorsese shot and edited this film with a sense of intensity and it works because it keeps the audience interested rather than if they just used flat, static shots the entire time like the Star Wars prequel.
The second half is when the sh!t starts hitting the fan. This is the part in the film where things start going really bad for the characters. Tommy gets whacked for killing Billy Batts, Henry gets arrested for dealing drugs, and Jimmy becomes a paranoid wreck over an airport robbery and starts killing members of his crew out of fear of them leading him to his demise. What's so great about this part of the film is that you really feel the fear and anxiety the characters are feeling. When Henry gets released from prison and gets really paranoid about getting whacked for dealing drugs, you feel the same way because you care about his character. It's quite an accomplishment to make you feel for a mobster/drug dealer.
I haven't talked about the performances yet so I might as well here. Ray Liotta is really underrated in this film. He plays Henry as a douchebag and not a nice guy but we do see his humanity when he sees Tommy murdering people. He makes us both pity him when he's caught dealing drugs and find him despicable when he's cheating on Karen and it's sad that when people talk about this movie, they never bring up his performance because he's actually really great in this film. Robert De Niro is the middle ground character of the trio. He's not as violent as Tommy but he doesn't have as much of a conscience as Henry and he plays it well, showing both the ruthless gangster side as well as the respectable side. The actor who gets the most attention for this film is Joe Pesci. He plays Tommy as an explosive, violent psychopath who would kill you just for looking at him the wrong way and yet, he's still really funny because of the way he talks. He's a joy to watch in this film!
Lastly, I want to bring up Scorsese's choice of music in this film. The music he chooses in this movie consists mainly of 70's rock & roll and pop music and they fit with every scene in this movie. When Henry's dating Karen, Bobby Vinton's Roses are Red and it helps in creating a romantic scene. When Henry's snorting coke, a rock and roll song abruptly comes on and it fits in with the intensity the character's feeling. All in all, the music choices in this movie were great and I suggest you to go buy the soundtrack.
Overall, the amazing direction, shooting, editing, acting, pacing, and music choices all add up to making one of the greatest films of all- time. I'm gonna give it a 10/10.