Review of GoodFellas (1990) by Philip R — 11 May 2013

I've seen THE DEPARTED, CAPE FEAR, half of TAXI DRIVER, THE COLOR OF MONEY, SHUTTER ISLAND, and my favorite CASINO. I had just turned two years old when it was released on September 19th, 1990. Iâ??ve heard about it over the years and now I have finally seen Martin Scorsese's GOODFELLAS and I enjoyed it.

Based on a true story set between the 1950â??s to the 1980â??s, Goodfellas tells the story of an Irish-American kid name Henry Hill (Ray Liotta), who quits school and gets taken under the wing of the neighborhood mob capo Paulie Cicero (Paul Sorvino) and fellow gangster associates: Jimmy â??The Gentâ?? Conway (Robert De Niro) and the aggressive, hair-triggered Tommy DeVito (Joe Pesci) as they work their way up through the mob hierarchy for 25 years.

I thought this was a very entertaining mob movie that Scorsese directed and I thought both Ray Liotta and Joe Pesci were more the lead stars than De Niro, whom to me thought he more of a supporting actor to the film.

Itâ??s weird for me that Samuel L. Jackson, who was an unknown at the time, appeared in the film as Parnell Steven â??Stacksâ?? Edwards. Just to point out, some of the actors: Lorraine Bracco (Karen Hill), Frank Vincent (Billy Batts), Michael Imperioli (Spider), Tony Sirico (Tony Stacks), and Vincent Pastore (Man with Coatrack) would all go on to star the acclaimed HBO TV Series THE SOPRANOS (1999-2007).

I love the fact that Scorsese uses the famous song â??Laylaâ?? by Derek and the Dominos for one of the key scenes of the film and used again in the end credits. My favorite line would have to be De Niro saying to Henry â??Never rat on your friends, and always keep your mouth shutâ??.

This movie earned six Academy Award nominations: Scorsese for Best Director, Pesci for Best Supporting Actor, Bracco for Best Supporting Actress, Thelma Schoonmaker for Best Film Editing, and for Best Picture.

Sadly it only won Pesci the Best Supporting Actor award. I would have to say that GOODFELLAS is one of the best gangster movies and one of Scorseseâ?? best films of all time.