An impeccable deep dive into the allure and insidiousness of the crime world

Rating: 9/10 (29 November 2019)

Goodfellas isn't a sprawling gang epic as I for some reason expected, but instead a much more personal and revelatory look at how a young man admires gangsters, becomes one and watches it envelop every part of his life, until he has no option but to reluctantly rat out his partners. The narration and camera work is extremely effective in making the viewer feel like they're going on this journey with Henry. It's certainly saying that crime snakes into every part of these men's lives, making them feel greedy and entitled to a lifestyle that they hadn't earned but also would have been unattainable by legal means, and the way it sours friendships, marriages, and personal sanity is obvious. Equally relevant, however, is how exciting and flashy it is when it's happening. You feel on top of the world, have all these friends, and can afford a luxurious lifestyle. It's easy to empathize with Henry and understand how he reached the point he did, even as we recognize how horribly twisted his priorities had gotten, and that's no small feat by Scorsese. Liotta is great in showing this transformation, and Pesci and De Niro were also great as crime lord characters. The ending really drives this duality home: what Henry laments in the film's conclusion isn't all the mistakes he made or that he gave up his friends (both would be reasonable), but that he no longer gets that glamorous life and has to live a humdrum daily existence. You'd think this would be a welcome and ideal change after how crime ruined his marriage and came close to killing him, but he misses the thrill of it. It's not hard to compare the narrative arc to one of drug addiction, where he craves the high until it envelops every part of his life. Scorsese's direction and script are wonderful, as the repetitive dialogue and the suddenness of violence in many scenes added to the authentic, gritty atmosphere of crime. It's a standout film by all accounts, and absolutely deserves its spot in the film pantheon as an all-time great movie.