Goodfellas (1990)

*MINOR SPOILERS*

Rotten Tomatoes: 96%

Box Office: 47.1 million USD

My Rating: 6/10

Description: We follow the life of Henry Hill (Ray Liotta) from teenagerhood to his mid-twenties. Henry Hill is a real person, in the Witness Protection Program at the time of Goodfellas's release. The audience sees him work his way up the ranks, his relationships, his activities, his vices, and how it all comes tumbling down.

My Thoughts: Have you ever craved watching a movie where nothing really happens? Do you love the 70s? Do you want to be prepared for the highly specific situation in which you have to name five mobsters from 1980s New York or else? Do you crave seeing rich people throw their money into buying the most hideous home decor possible? Well, look no further! In all fairness, Goodfellas was genuinely a pretty good movie. It read more like a documentary than an actual film with a plot, but it was pretty good. I loved the way the movie was filmed. The colours, the sets, the outfits, the voices, the dialogue--it all felt tangible. Like I could reach out and touch it and be transported all the way back in time to that poker table. I could smell the smoke and liquor and dead rotted corpses. You can watch their humanity slowly stripped away. There are so many scenes that (I assume) would be bonkers to you and I but nobody batted an eye on screen. For instance, there's a scene where Henry wakes up to his wife (Lorraine Bracco) straddling him, pointing a gun between his eyes. Mascara is running down her face as she screams and wails. The next thing you know they're on the floor, Henry is pointing the gun at HER and ripping her hair out while screaming profanity. Cut to the very next scene, when they're both smiling and saying "I love you, babe" as if this is just a normal Tuesday. People kill each other for not moving fast enough or for saying the wrong thing to the wrong person. It's bananas and makes total sense. It builds up that mysterious, glamourous, luxourious lifestyle sometimes synonymous with the Mafia and then tears it down brick by brick. The intimacy of following one character aids itself to that. The dramatic irony of seeing Henry's life fall apart behind him as he blindly walks on is quite... fun? Now, I wasn't kidding when I said nothing happens. This movie emulates real life in that the narrative structure isn't perfectly set up. There is conflict and tension, sure, but not like what true fiction would have. Don't expect a story, or complete fact, either. It's something in between. Overall, though, it was perfectly fine.

Best Line: "Why don't you go fuck yourself, Tommy?"