A very good movie but a few major flaws.

Rating: 8/10 (31 May 2002)

When I saw "Goodfellas" I knew everything that was going to happen because it was based on a book called "Wise Guys" that I had read a few years before. Though I knew what was coming I was pleased with the acting, at it's best. The character were developed and depicted in a way that I though made them almost like heros. Some, like Pesci's , were amusing and sometimes funny. Conway was presented in a truer light, and I think that only an actor of DeNiro's caliber was capable of showing James Conway as the truly mean and vicious person he was in life. Henry Hill and his wife Karen are presented almost as victims and one could almost feel sorry for them. It's hard not to like Lorraine Bracco in any role she plays and I wish that they had cast someone not as likable as her as Mrs Hill. I, being involved in law enforcement for nearly twenty-five years saw them as criminals. The scenes depicted in the jails was as true to life as possible. I just feel that the way the criminals are made into heroes is a bad message to present to young people. More of the needless murder and suffering, the survivors family and loved ones left to pick up the pieces are neglected and ignored. Henry committing felonies on a daily basis, Karen living a glamorous life, and when they finally get caught and ready to be sent to jail, where they belong, become outstanding citizens by informing on their friends. Hill and his wife are no better than any of the others that committed felonies, condoned and participated in murder, robbery, assault, drug dealing and extortion. The flaw is that these characters are made to be sympathetic victims. It wasn't poor Henry's fault that for as long as he could remember he wanted to be a criminal. It wasn't Karen's fault that she felt all the glamour surrounding a life of extortion and theft. Her mother, presented as a mean interfering woman was another victim as was her father, presented as sickly and spineless. They truly suffered, seeing their daughter getting involved in a life with such trash. A message sent to young people that this type of life is fun, great and carefree is not a good message. Lets face it, Hill continues to be a criminal, even if not on the same scale he still goes into stores and steals from the shelf and we, the general public, have to make up for the vendors lose because of this. Let's present the characters for what they are. Poor Tommy being murdered because he resented being shot by a mean coward. A man trying to make a living running a nightclub having his business being stolen or a poor mailman making his daily round sand being assaulted for doing what he was suppose to do, deliver the mail to the addressee and so many more depicted in the movie not as victims but as an occasional ship passing in the night and happening to be passing a barge filled with garbage. The movie is entertaining, but lets not forget that in real life these characters left a trail of victims and so much unnecessary hurt.