8/10
I liked this movie a lot! It is such a great depiction of what a gangster movie should be. There is a lot of violence and it’s very chaotic, so be warned about that. It is so Sopranos-y, though I guess the Sopranos was really Goodfellas-y since this came first. Not only in the themes that it puts forward and the plot lines, but also in the cast (Melfi! Christopher! The other guys!). The cast of this movie is great. There are three main gangsters, Henry (Ray Liotta), Jimmy (Robert De Niro), and Tommy (Joe Pesci). All of their performances were incredible! Robert De Niro is great as always. I also found Ray Liotta’s laugh to be somewhat annoying in this film. I know that is a very specific complaint, but it bothered me. As for Joe Pesci, his acting was AMAZING. He was truly terrifying—you had absolutely no idea if he was going to go off the rails at any time, but he was also hilarious just because it’s Joe Pesci.
Scorsese’s direction is great and definitely keeps you on your toes. I loved the shot from Gowanus, which I’ve heard about my whole life but now I finally saw. As Karen, Lorraine Bracco was amazing. I loved her already so that may have affected my impression of her character, but I thought she was great. I think it is interesting that she basically plays both sides of the mob-life, from the Wife here to the Therapist in the Sopranos. As my mom and I noted, however, Tony and Carmela Soprano were much more prepared for this kind of life than Henry and Karen Hill. It’s interesting to compare the gangster-style in movies/TV between the 70s (The Godfather, which shows the 1940s-50s), the 80s/90s (Goodfellas), and the 90s/2000s (The Sopranos). One notable difference throughout time is the way that drugs play (or don’t play) into the mob as we move closer to today.
This movie was awesome and simply a good time to watch. I recommend it but not to anyone who hates violence :)
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