The Nineties Masterpiece

Rating: 10/10 (27 November 1999)

Scorsese is undoubtedly the leader in that select group of American directors, including Kubrick, Welles, Spielberg (and one day Tarantino), that never miss with a movie. While the 70's and 80's saw him construct masterpieces with effortless ease, his passage into the 90's came from 'Goodfellas', a film that can easily match 'Taxi Driver', 'Raging Bull' and 'King Of Comedy' for intensity and technique.
The film charts mafia exploits through three generations. Tremendous acting from Scorsese-favourite DeNiro, short-fused Pesci, and Ray Liotta allow some of the most memorable scenes in modern cinema. The steadycam shot following Liotta into the club, and the seamless "funny like a clown..." confrontation between Pesci and Liotta are movie classics. Combine a great music score, lashings of atmosphere, unsentimental direction and the most vivid look at mob life to date, and 'Goodfellas' can truly be called the masterpiece of the nineties.