Review of GoodFellas (1990) by Gloria V — 01 Apr 2013

So energetic and densely detailed that it leaves you exhausted by the end, films rarely take on lives of their own the way this one does. It's vivid, stylish, funny, brutal, and often shocking, but everything about it works from the fast-paced yet elegant cinematography, acting so good it feels like watching a documentary, to the fun, freewheeling screenplay which achieves multiple levels of depth in its study of what makes the mob lifestyle seem so attractive to some; it also shows the downsides, not through preachy melodrama, but through simple logic, the basic ups and downs of life.

Not to mention, it has a genuinely cool classic rock soundtrack, all of which corresponds with the time periods lovingly recreated throughout. It's cinema at its most alive and exhilarating, and is easily in the top three Scorsese films.