GOODFELLAS
A film review by Mark R. Leeper
Copyright 1990 Mark R. Leeper
Capsule review: A very realistic view of organized
crime follows the life of a minor organized crime figure from
1955 to almost the present. The structure is
autobiographical at some expense to the dramatic impact.
Rating: +2 (-4 to +4)
Back in the 1930s Warner Brothers made a reputation for themselves making gangster films. That was the heyday of Cagney, Raft, Robinson, and Bogart. But I don't remember them ever making a gangster film as realistic as their current GOODFELLAS. First of all, GOODFELLAS is "based on a true story." It is, in fact, based on the memoir WISE GUY by Nicholas Pileggi, who co-wrote the screenplay with the film's director, Martin Scorsese. And the film is structured like a memoir. It is long for a film (146 minutes) and is mostly episodic, with the episodes being somewhat related. Dramatically it is not structured like SCARFACE with a beginning, a middle, and a satisfying ending. Instead, it is structured like a documentary, but for one puzzling exception. It starts during an incident in 1970, then in a flashback, as if reminiscing at that point, tells of Henry Hill's career in crime since 1955, returns to the 1970 incident and continues the story, still in recollection style, until about 1980. What makes it even more puzzling is that the 1970 incident, while moderately important, is not a pivotal point in the story.
This is the story of Henry Hill (played by Ray Liotta), a gangster of Italian-Irish descent. Hill is part of a small group of crooks and killers that is sort of a satellite of the Mafia. Only those of pure Italian descent may actually be part of the Mafia. Hill started at age 13 parking cars and running errands for a local gangster. He loves the work and the respect and feat it brings him from the neighborhood. From there one thing leads to another as he hijacks trucks and steals shipments at nearby Idlewild/Kennedy Airport. Eventually he is involved in a six million dollar theft, in murder, and in cocaine. What looks like an enjoyable life early on gets more and more serious and nightmarish. We see life in organized crime and in the social world surrounding crime. There is loving attention paid to Italian food through most of the film. Scorsese has the texture of the criminal very believably presented.
It is clear that life gets more serious for Hill as time progresses, but Liotta's looks change very little in the course of the film. His face is not very expressive, and we have a hard time knowing how he feels at times. Jimmy Conway (played by Robert DeNiro) is more expressive and does seem to change as time goes by. It is unfortunate that DeNiro accepts top billing, since he certainly had less than half the screen time that Liotta has. DeNiro and Paul Sorvino (as Paully Cicero) play Hill's two bosses and mentors in crime. Rounding out the topliners are Joe Pesci as the volatile gangster Tommy DeVito. His performance is likely to be the one best remembered from the film.
One comes out of GOODFELLAS not feeling greatly entertained but with the feeling that you have seen an authentic view of modern crime. I rate it +2 on the -4 to +4 scale.
Mark R. Leeper
att!mtgzy!leeper
leeper@mtgzy.att.com
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