Exceptional film and very graphic.

Rating: Null/10 (7 January 2001)

In the early days the gangster stereotype for movies was a cigar-chomping "talk out of the side of your mouth" cliche. After the Godfather, everyone became grandfatherly "mumblers" with Italian music conveniently playing in the background. Because of that, I held off on seeing this one until about a year after its release. Boy did I miss out!!! This is GREAT, and although the names of many people are changed, it rings true with actual gangland life in the period it covers. (MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS WITHIN TEXT) Ray Liotta plays real-life ex-mobster Henry Hill, who is gradually sucked into "the life" and rises and falls with it over about 25 years time. Although not a lead in this film, Robert DeNiro looks truly deadly in this film as "Jimmy the Gent." He pretty much steals the show away from the real principal actors. Joe Pesci is great as the nasty-mouthed Tommy, whose temper eventually lands him in his own trouble. Lorraine Bracco is convincing enough as Henry Hill's wife. I especially thought that Paul Sorvino was chilling as Pauly, obviously a higher ranking boss than the rest of the "street guys." It's not so much the lines he delivers ("don't make a schmuck outta me!") but rather the facial and eye expressions that give a deadly presence here.
What I like about this movie is that it was one of the first really good ones to show gangsters operating at the street level. Instead of buying up half of Las Vegas with one sitdown, they are shown hustling from one "score" to another; rich one day and broke the next. It also shows that loyalty and friendship are two different things. I once heard real-life gangster Jimmy Fratianno say in an interview "what does friendship have to do with anything?!....if you gotta go...you go!" In Goodfellas, this is proven time and time again. We see people who have been friends all their lives casually kill eachother as if they are ordering a round of drinks. So much for the good-life. This is not a film for impressing a first date with, guys. It is a non-stop barrage of four-letter words and some pretty nasty violence. But it is far more realistic than most of the ones that preceded it.
Put it this way, after a character in the film gets "whacked," all the killer says is, "and that's that." Pretty much sums up the way things are dealt with if you screw up in "the life," whether you are right or wrong. Great soundtrack, great performances, and makes me hungry everytime I see the big meals being prepared. This one's a "don't miss" movie for gangster buffs.
RATING: 10 out of 10