What a collection of characters!

Rating: 10/10 (29 July 2001)

This three-act morality play that glorifies a refugee who escaped the "Mob Culture" is appealing for many reasons and unappealing for many more! As a star-making vehicle for Ray Liotta, it succeeds on the basis of his and Lorraine Bracco's nuanced portrayals. GOODFELLAS should really have been named WISE GUYS but ran into name or prior copyright (?) confusion, I believe. Following along many of the same heavily beaten paths of the two worthy GODFATHER movies of the 1970's, in GOODFELLAS, the Mob "wise guys" are amoral, capitalistic hedonists who try to succeed and attain the "American dream." A much better movie made last year (TRAFFIC, directed by Steven Soderbergh) uncovered the sordid venality of drug pushers whose hypocritical "family values" are truly a sham. In the GOODFELLAS storyline, the not-very-creatively scripted characters and their unmemorable dialogue receive highlighting and benefits by the director's quite creative and memorable use of pop music and camera tricks galore. However, as the typical first-time viewer walks away from the end credits, one asks oneself: "Did the justice system really win? Do bottom-dwelling psychopaths really get their comeuppance? and Are the plusses of such a frank movie more than the minuses (racial-ethnic stereotyping and epithets overflowing and rampant)?" I suppose this crowd-pleaser is a landmark "thrilling" part of the Best American Movies of the Twentieth Century. Still, I found GOODFELLAS to be as offensive as PULP FICTION when it lowers its sights to scenes of mayhem and violence, gore and bloodsport. But then again, Academy voters picked GLADIATOR as the Best Picture of 2000, as well.