GoodFellas

It may come as a surprise to some people who are used to seeing Martin Scorsese’s name tied to big splashy dramas that there was a time when he was considered not worth taking a risk on as a director. He had had some modest success with his gritty 70’s dramas and even his early 80’s films have been reevaluated in more recent years but the catastrophe that was The Last Temptation of Christ had put him in a bad spot. Christian groups boycotted the film calling it blasphemy, there was a terrorist attack in Paris where a theater was in the midst of showing it was set on fire, and the director himself received numerous death threats. People professing to be representing Christianity were turning to violence rather than turning the other cheek showing how little they understood the very scriptures they were defending. 

The movie itself made a tidy profit but the backlash was so severe that there was real concern about bankrolling any more films by Scorsese. He was in serious need of a hit, something that would put to rest the controversies and bring him back in the good graces of mainstream cinema. Martin being Martin, though, wasn’t going to just take something easy to get there, though. He was going to fall back on a gritty crime drama in the vain of Mean Streets but ramped up to 11, starring his frequent collaborators who would be allowed to punch up their scenes before blocking and filming, and release a mob movie that would go on to be considered one of the greatest mafia films of all time, even if it didn’t turn much of a profit when it first released.

Goodfellas released just three months before another major mafia movie hit theaters. Francis Ford Coppola had directed his third Godfather film the same year and the two would end up battling it out at the Oscars, both ultimately losing to Dances With Wolves, an epic western that was a real audience pleaser and appealed to a wider audience. Dances With Wolves is still a great film that holds up but it has a certain stoicism to it that makes it feel like it’s trying to be an important movie whereas Goodfellas has an irreverence that may turn some people off but also makes it a much more interesting film to watch and analyze. There is a dark humor to it that is ever-present even during some of the darker moments of it, a tone that is not in the script but was created by the talent in front of the screen, all of which are bringing their A game to the project. Even relative newcomer Ray Liotta, who was mainly known for his lowkey portrayal of Shoeless Joe Jackson in Field of Dreams, is dead perfect in a role that would color how the world saw him for the rest of his all too short career. 

The story is one of those things that is often referred to as “Ripped from the headlines.” It’s based on the non-fictional novel Wise Guys and tells the story of Henry Hill (Ray Liotta), a young man who has grown up dreaming of one day working for the Mafia, seeing how ever-present they are in his working class neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York. As a young teen he gets a job parking Cadillac’s for the mob and quickly moves up to doing jobs for the local caporegime Paulie Cicero (Paul Sorvino) and his associates Jimmy “the Gent” Conway (Robert De Niro) and Tommy DeVito (Joe Pesci), a fellow juvenile. Henry begins as a fence for Jimmy, gradually working his way up to more serious crimes. 

The story follows Henry as he graduates from theft to murder, eventually getting involved in drugs, his ultimate downfall. He falls in love with Karen (Lorraine Bracco), marries, has affairs, and destroys his home life thanks to his inability to settle down and be a proper husband. His friendship with Jimmy and Tommy lands him in jail and, once released, puts him at odds with Paulie and makes him a target for the feds. His increasing drug use makes him a liability to the organization and he is cut off by Paulie. Jimmy may or may not be planning his funeral. This leaves him only one option, turn rat and go into the witness protection program. 

The film uses a narrative conceit that rarely works. It employs heavy use of voice over narration. For about the first half of the film this is entirely done by Ray Liotta as he addresses everything from his childhood interest in organized crime to how he got into the business and what he did to stay there. After his marriage to Karen her voice is added to the narration inducing an almost whiplash effect to the shifting perspective. Towards the end of the film things are further elevated by Ray Liotta addressing the camera, bringing us directly in on his point-of-view. This kind of stuff is usually distracting but actually works in the context of the film and gives us an inside view of Henry Hill’s personal perspective at all times.  This is not Harrison Ford in Blade Runner, narrating the story in a boring monotone. Ray Liotta elevates this beyond the standard tropes. 

Ray Liotta is great in this but he is overshadowed by his co-star Joe Pesci. Tommy DeVito is dangerous and we see that immediately. He is a loose cannon who has a quick temper that can immediately turn deadly. It overrules his common sense. When he is insulted by Billy Batts, a made man in the Gambino crime family, Tommy refuses to let it go. Made men are supposed to be protected and cannot be killed without obtaining permission from the family. Tommy ambushes him, beating and stabbing the man to death before hiding the body to avoid retribution for the unsanctioned murder. Tommy, Jimmy and Henry have to go back and relocate the body six months later when the area they buried him gets bought up for development. On another occasion Tommy shoots a young man in the foot for being late bringing him a drink. Later, that young man will stand up for himself only to have Tommy gun him down dead. Tommy’s recklessness, coupled with the murder of Billy Batt, will end up getting him executed in a scene that is inevitable yet no less shocking. 

Goodfellas starts out by glamorizing the Mafia, making everything look so appealing and sharp. This will change as we get a better look at the inside of the whole affair and begin to see just how seedy and unpleasant it all really is. When Henry is arrested alongside Paulie and Jimmy it seems like things are really nice on the inside with Paulie and the others smuggling in expensive foodstuffs and spending their days cooking and gambling. It’s not long, though, before Paulie is released and Henry is basically all on his own in jail. Without any income his wife and kids are struggling while he does time and he turns to smuggling drugs into the prison just to stay off welfare. This is not the glamorous life he envisioned when he was growing up. The lessons he learned while in prison will eventually be his downfall as he turns his loyalties away from Paulie and lies to him about smuggling drugs alongside Jimmy and Tommy.

The real life Henry Hill was kicked out of the witness protection program when he couldn’t stay out of trouble. He was still alive when Goodfellas hit theaters and would do interviews and call into radio programs to talk about his experiences in real life. His wife of twenty-five years divorced him eventually and he has since passed on. Paulie, who was so afraid of dying in prison, did just that. So much of the fates of the key players was telegraphed in the dialogue throughout the course of the film.

Goodfellas was heavily represented at the Oscars in 1991 only to get mostly shut out. This was becoming a regular occurrence for Martin Scorsese who would finally win his own Oscar sixteen years later for The Departed. His penchant for nominations without wins continued again afterwards with The Wolf of Wall Street, Hugo, The Irishman and Killers of the Flower Moon. It seems the Academy loves his movies, just not enough to give him the top prize. Well Goodfellas probably should have gone all the way in 1991 it at least got nominated for the top prize. Whether it is better than Dances With Wolves is debatable. Realistically, though, it is the type of film that appeals more to the movie goers than it does to those that vote for awards shows. That is probably why it didn’t win yet remains the more popular film of the two. 

Academy Award Nominations:

Best Picture: Irwin Winkler

Best Director: Martin Scorsese

Best Supporting Actor: Joe Pesci (won)

Best Supporting Actress: Lorraine Bracco

Best Adapted Screenplay: Martin Scorsese and Nicholas Pileggi

Best Film Editing: Thelma Schoonmaker

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Release Date: September 19, 1990

Running Time: 146 Minutes

Rated R

Starring: Robert De Niro, Ray Liotta, Joe Pesci, Lorraine Bracco and Paul Sorvino

Directed By: Martin Scorsese