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Goodfellas, 1990
Henry Hill (Ray Liotta) is a mobster working several rackets along with partners Jimmy (Robert DeNiro) and Tommy (Joe Pesci). As Henry slowly climbs the ladder, he gaces challenges within the crime world and within his marriage to Karen (Lorraine Bracco).
While I really enjoyed this film, I find that I don't have too much to say about it.
The performances are solid from the leads right down to the supporting actors like Debi Mazar as one of Henry's girlfriend's friends. Pesci makes one heck of an impression as Tommy, a guy who trades in joking around but whose own skin is so thin that the merest slight as often as not ends up with someone dead.
Movies about the mafia sometimes make be a bit itchy because they seem to almost worship the idea of mob culture. I thought that this film showed just how nasty and absurd criminality can be. Most of these men are like petulant children, only with a network around them that cushions them against any consequences for their murder and hurt.
The visual storytelling in the film is really masterful, and it's one of those 2 1/2 hour films that goes by in just a flash. The world is wonderfully realized, and one of the strongest things it does (which is a theme explicitly stated by multiple characters) is show how quickly this strange and violent lifestyle becomes normal.
Goodfellas, 1990
Henry Hill (Ray Liotta) is a mobster working several rackets along with partners Jimmy (Robert DeNiro) and Tommy (Joe Pesci). As Henry slowly climbs the ladder, he gaces challenges within the crime world and within his marriage to Karen (Lorraine Bracco).
While I really enjoyed this film, I find that I don't have too much to say about it.
The performances are solid from the leads right down to the supporting actors like Debi Mazar as one of Henry's girlfriend's friends. Pesci makes one heck of an impression as Tommy, a guy who trades in joking around but whose own skin is so thin that the merest slight as often as not ends up with someone dead.
Movies about the mafia sometimes make be a bit itchy because they seem to almost worship the idea of mob culture. I thought that this film showed just how nasty and absurd criminality can be. Most of these men are like petulant children, only with a network around them that cushions them against any consequences for their murder and hurt.
The visual storytelling in the film is really masterful, and it's one of those 2 1/2 hour films that goes by in just a flash. The world is wonderfully realized, and one of the strongest things it does (which is a theme explicitly stated by multiple characters) is show how quickly this strange and violent lifestyle becomes normal.