One of Scorcese's Masterpieces

Rating: 8/10 (17 February 2008)

'Goodfellas' is right up there with the best of Martin Scorcese. I recently hauled this out for a re-viewing and I was surprised at how totally up to date it felt. How relevant the plot was, how topical the story.
And for a mafia movie of that era, how the women were brought front and centre and given a narrative voice - Karen Hill (played by Lorraine Bracco), the wife of the protagonist, Henry Hill (played by a riveting Ray Liotta) both get to tell their stories.
The movie is based on a true story and the cast are awesome. At this later viewing I was particularly interested to see many of "The Sopranos" cast, here making their debuts in a similar crime-family drama.
The movie is astounding in that it brings complexity, a riveting script, brilliant relevant music (with actual stars performing their hits) and mind boggling tracking shots, the most difficult of all movie sequencing. Scorcese, or his ensemble, do not flinch from the complexity of this and afterwards, one wonders at how many takes were involved.
We are drawn into the intimate life of a crime family, the gradual desensitizing to the horror of the life, driven by material greed at any cost, including the callous snuffing of lives.
The large ensemble cast (both known and unknown and including both of Scorcese's parents in brilliant sidebits), the cinematography, editing and dialogue are all masterful.
De Niro is at his charming best,Joe Pesci captivates as a psychotic, insecure 'made' man Lorraine Bracco is masterful in a fully developed role, Ray Liotta is marvellous in the way he depicts the reality of the hoodlum life, the juxta-positioning of sauce making against the back drop of victim burials. Paul Sorvino, Michael Imperioli, Debi Mazar, Samuel L. Jackson, Illeana Douglas and Kevin Corrigan all add to the over all engrossing engagement of the film.
8 out of 10. Not to be missed.