THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
It’s easy to answer the question of what convinces people to enter the life of crime, that is money. But if you ask me what makes interested, it would be the movie Goodfellas.
PLOT
Based on the novel Wiseguy by Writer Nicholas Pileggi, the film chronicles the life of mob associate Henry Hill. He became enamored with criminal life as a teenager in 1955, and made his mark by working with caporegime Paul Cicero. He would also align with mobster lieutenant Jimmy Conway and fellow delinquent Tommy DeVito. He would mostly work the latter to hijack trucks. By the 60s, the three would regularly hang out at the Copacabana nightclub. Around this time, Henry would marry Karen Friedman who would be seduced by his glamorous lifestyle. In 1970, made man Billy Batts (Frank Vincent) would be released from prison, but gets himself killed by Tommy & Jimmy for insulting the former. The two and Henry would bury his body in upstate New York to avoid retribution from the Gambino crime family. But six months later, they would have to relocate his corpse to avoid it being detected upon discovery of the burial site slated for development. By 1974, Henry’s marriage with Karen would begin to crumble as he would cheat on her with a mistress named Janice Rossi (Gina Mastrogiacomo). Despite wanting to separate from her, Paul insists on returning to her and make it work. After collecting a gambling debt in Tampa, he and Jimmy get arrested by an FBI typist that was the sister to the gambler that owed debt. The two would serve 10 year prison sentences, but Karen smuggles in drugs to ensure their family to be supported on the outside. When Henry is paroled four years later, he expands his cocaine business against Paul’s orders. He orchestrates a successful raid at the Lufthansa vault in the JFK International Airport, stealing 6 million dollars in cash and jewelry. When the getaway truck is found by the police and some members spend expensive items against Jimmy’s orders, they get executed for their faultiness. Tommy is killed as well as retribution for Batts, being deceived of becoming a made man. By 1980, Henry’s drug habit makes him a completely paranoid person. When attempting to set up a drug deal with associates in Pittsburgh, he ends up getting briefly incarcerated. When Karen bails him out, she confesses to flushing away cocaine to avoid the FBI from finding it during a raid. This was not a wise decision as the cocaine was worth $60,000 and could’ve saved them from eventually becoming penniless. Paul ends up cutting ties with Henry by giving him $3,200. When Henry draws suspicion that Jimmy wants to kill him and Karen, he decides to become an informant which grants him and his family witness protection. After providing enough evidence to convict Jimmy and Paul, he is moved to a nondescript neighborhood he identifies as boring. The film ends with an epilogue: Henry has remained sober in ‘87 and separated with Karen in ‘89. Paul died from respiratory illness during his sentence in ‘88. And Jimmy would not be granted parole until 2004 for his 20 years to life sentence (he passed away in ‘96).
THOUGHTS
I've been seeing this film many times in my life and as each decade passes since first released in 1990, it doesn't skip a beat. Pileggi and Director Martin Scorsese succeed in making something that is beyond immersive. The life of the mob/mafia had always been fascinating beforehand, but it really hits different here. Whenever I acknowledge the incredible cinematography by Michael Ballhaus, a part of me actually feels like I'm a part of it. Looking back, I think the main reason this is so effective would be how it accurately expresses the unsaid paradox of the infamous lifestyle: It is a stark reality that is meant to be broken yet also sacrosanct. It shows how this life can be fun until it's not. And in this twisted world, you get a big understanding on how beneficial it can be for anybody when it comes loyalty. You feel all of this in the perspective of Henry Hill. Played mesmerizingly by the late Ray Liotta, Whenever we focus on him, it becomes clear that he was a guy that found his place to fit in and stayed as long as he could because he enjoyed the power he gained along the way. Since it was hard for him to accept that all good things come to an end, he doesn't regret any bit of it because he'd do it all over again, as it was that fun for him. Without the mob life, he is absolutely lost and misses the control he had. When he fantasizes of Tommy shooting at him, it implies multiple things: It's a nod to The Great Train Robbery, and implies how he misses him, knowing he would've killed him for turning on Paul & Jimmy. Speaking of which, Henry was not the memorable character in this riveting story. Robert DeNiro gives another home run performance by incredibly portraying Jimmy Conway as one who is the smartest, yet cunning and sociopathic when things don't go his way. He was clearly the most loyal in comparison to others because he always knew when to cut ties with those he couldn't trust. The fact that he was regularly one step ahead of his threats made him look so badass. When it came to Henry's downfall, you couldn't blame him for eliminating him as well as he couldn't dare taking a risk. While 'Always keep your mouth shut' is a gamble of advice, 'Never rat on your friends' felt essential to learn because it helped me understand who exactly were my true friends. So for Henry, he never really had friends by the time he became a schnook. Going back to Tommy, Joe Pesci felt unstoppable in his Oscar winning performance. He was so entertaining to watch for being a straight up wild card in comparison to the others. Whenever he chose to act ruthless, everyone noticed and wouldn't dare to speak up because that is how powerful he was in his time. However, seeing him get taken out of the picture proves that there are always consequences when choosing to be reckless. Now Paul Cicero may have looked like a soft spoken person, but actor Paul Sorvino reminded us that he was the man behind the curtain. He reminded us that you gotta play it both ways in the dangerous life you choose to live. So for him, he would play a peacekeeper to the ones closest ones as a family man, while also putting generally everyone in check as a boss. In all honesty, you feel bad for him as you would for Henry because for a man that was so careful, even he couldn't process good things reaching an end. Last but not least, Lorraine Bracco was just as great as the men around her in her Oscar nominated performance as Karen. Originally, she was someone who was too good for any man, but her attraction to Henry and his life made her an unexpectedly loyal mob wife. However, she avoided the tackiness around it to become more pragmatic. She may have gained a short temper but the longer she stayed with Henry, the more she felt self respected, which would matter to her just as much as protecting her family. It made sense for her to bend things with Henry because the magic and there was nothing left of him to be attracted to. In conclusion, Goodfellas is an overall masterpiece of a film for hooking viewers in with the ups and downs of an unordinary world, being a worthy Best Picture nominee in the process. If mob films are up your alley, see this now.
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