A movie including amazing role performances and a brilliant story but sadly being a bit dull in places

Rating: 8/10 (26 May 2007)

"Goodfellas" is Martin Scorsese's highest ranked movie over at IMDb. I had never seen it before 2 days ago and to be honest it wasn't what I expected it to be. Don't get me wrong, it is all in all a great movie, but like Scorsese's movies usually it's over-hyped. "Goodfellas" is based on a true story and it tells a story about Henry Hill who grows up to be a gangster, a part of the mob. Along with his friends, other wiseguys Tommy DeVito and Jimmy Conway, the movie tells about how organized the mafia really is and follows the rise and fall of Henry Hill from the beginning till the end.
The movie progresses very well with the narration of Henry Hill, who's played by Ray Liotta. The narration's excellent and keeps the movie going in a good flow with it's precise use of words and witty sarcasm. I've never been so impressed of Liotta's performance than I was after this movie, he does his best role performance yet to date and does it by far. Liotta evolves the character so realistically, by emotions and doing the whole progress of the character's corruption in a so believable way. The role of Tommy DeVito is played by Joe Pesci who has always been enjoyable for me, he has that personal voice and essence which can't be compared to any actor. I've never seen Joe Pesci in such a serious role before and to me he did some fine job in it. He also does his best role performance yet to date. Then there's the mighty Robert De Niro, who plays the role of Jimmy Conway, and you can't go wrong with De Niro now can you? He is perfect for the role and to be honest the whole cast is chosen very specifically, each right actor/actress for the right role. Amazing role performances indeed.
The screenplay is brilliant, the story in its wholeness is a real treat for you and that's one of the reasons why you can't miss this movie. Sadly, the movie suffers from one significant problem; It's too long and that is pretty much the only reason why it doesn't deserve a 10. The first hour goes very smoothly and things keep on going all the time, you don't get bored in any part. After that it kinda stops, I wouldn't say it's downhill after that but I'd say it just stops the whole smoothness and the flow. I hate to say this, but it does get slightly too boring, hence why I said it's too long. I feel so bad because of it as this would have been a perfect movie without it being too long. The second hour just isn't nearly as interesting as the first, a real shame indeed. What comes to direction, well it's Scorsese and to me it's pretty much as excellent as it can get. You just have to admire that style of his, being oddly joyful in parts where sadness should take place. The whole soundtrack is also very Martin Scorsese stylish, not including any beautiful compositions but some really groovy and great tracks, which also play an important role in the whole progress of the movie.
"Goodfellas" is a great movie, but for me personally it was rather disappointing. Having an average rating of 8.7 at IMDb it should be amazing, shouldn't it? Maybe the slight disappointment is because of the movie being over-hyped, yeah, most certainly. Despite it being a slight disappointment for me it's still a definite recommendation for all of you who love great movies. You don't have to like mob movies in general, as this movie gives the whole mob thing some real depth in it, giving a realistic sort of an inside-look of it. It's not phenomenal, but it's definitely a great movie.