GoodFellas

GoodFellas

17/9/1990 2h 25m 8.5/10

Overview

The true story of Henry Hill, a half-Irish, half-Sicilian Brooklyn kid who is adopted by neighbourhood gangsters at an early age and climbs the ranks of a Mafia family under the guidance of Jimmy Conway.

Director

Martin Scorsese

Top Billed Cast

Robert De Niro

Robert De Niro

James Conway

Ray Liotta

Ray Liotta

Henry Hill

Joe Pesci

Joe Pesci

Tommy DeVito

Lorraine Bracco

Lorraine Bracco

Karen Hill

Paul Sorvino

Paul Sorvino

Paul Cicero

Frank Sivero

Frank Sivero

Frankie Carbone

Reviews

John Chard

11/16/2014

9/10

In a world that's powered by violence, on the streets where the violent have power, a new generation carries on an old tradition. Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas is without question one of the finest gangster movies ever made, a benchmark even. It’s that rare occasion for a genre film of this type where everything artistically comes together as one. Direction, script, editing, photography, driving soundtrack and crucially an ensemble cast firing on all cylinders. It’s grade “A” film making that marked a return to form for Scorsese whilst simultaneously showing the director at the summit of his directing abilities. The story itself, based on Nicholas Pileggi’s non-fiction book Wiseguy, pulls absolutely no punches in its stark realisation of the Mafia lifestyle. It’s often brutal, yet funny, unflinching yet stylish, but ultimately from first frame to last it holds the attention, toying with all the human emotions during the journey, tingling the senses of those who were by 1990 fed up of popcorn movie fodder. It’s not romanticism here, if anything it’s a debunking of the Mafia myth, but even as the blood flows and the dialogue crackles with electricity, it always remains icy cool, brought to us by a man who had is eyes and ears open while growing up in Queens, New York in the 40s and 50s. Eccellente! 9/10

CinemaSerf

CinemaSerf

8/26/2023

7/10

Ray Liotta is superb here as "Henry Hill", a man whom ever since he was young has been captivated by the mob. He starts off as a runner and before too long has ingratiated himself with the local fraternity lead by "Paulie" (Paul Sorvino) and is best mates with fellow hoods, the enigmatic and devious "Jimmy" (Robert De Niro) and the excellently vile "Tommy" (Joe Pesci). They put together an audacious robbery at JFK and are soon the talk of the town, but the latter in the trio is a bit of a live-wire and when he goes just a bit too far one night, the three of them find that their really quite idyllic lives of extortion and larceny start to go awry - and it's their own who are on their tracks. Scorsese takes him time with this story: the development of the characters - their personalities, trust, inter-reliance, sometimes divided, fractured, loyalties and ruthlessness and are built up in a thoroughly convincing fashion. We can, ourselves, see the obvious attractions for the young "Henry" of a life so very far removed from his working class Irish-Italian background - the wine, the women, the thrills; it's tantalising! If anything let's it down it's the last half hour; it's just a little too predictable and having spent so long building up the characters, we seem to be in just a bit too much of a rush; but that is a nit-pick. It's not the "Godfather" but it is not far short.

JackthePGL

8/19/2025

10/10

Martin Scorsese was at his best when he made GoodFellas. It received five Oscar nominations and a winner for Best Supporting Actor for Joe Pesci. It's speechless for how great this movie was and it still is. GoodFellas is a fantastic crime drama and it's impeccably done throughout. The story is based on a true story ad it's taken place from 1955 to 1980. It tells a story about Henry Hill played by Ray Liotta narrating about his life as a gangster. Lorraine Bracco sometimes narrates as Karen Hill, aside from that, Ray Liotta does all the narrating. It's in the book. It's in the non-fiction book by Nicholas Pileggi called Wiseguy. Of course, everyone knows the scene where Henry tells Tommy that he is funny cause the way he tells stories and Tommy says "What do you mean I'm funny?" "Funny how, I mean funny like I'm a clown, I amuse you?" This is a famous scene for Joe Pesci as his acting is incredible. As far as this film goes, this is a perfect film for everyone who is a huge fan of Martin Scorsese. It has a great story that is so true, fantastic Oscar winning acting by everyone who played great characters and best direction from Martin Scorsese. It's everyone's favourite film of all time and considered one of the greatest films of all time. Never rat on your friends, and always keep your mouth shut.

JackthePGL

8/19/2025

10/10

Martin Scorsese was at his best when he made GoodFellas. It received five Oscar nominations and a winner for Best Supporting Actor for Joe Pesci. It's speechless for how great this movie was and it still is. GoodFellas is a fantastic crime drama and it's impeccably done throughout. The story is based on a true story ad it's taken place from 1955 to 1980. It tells a story about Henry Hill played by Ray Liotta narrating about his life as a gangster. Lorraine Bracco sometimes narrates as Karen Hill, aside from that, Ray Liotta does all the narrating. It's in the book. It's in the non-fiction book by Nicholas Pileggi called Wiseguy. Of course, everyone knows the scene where Henry tells Tommy that he is funny cause the way he tells stories and Tommy says "What do you mean I'm funny?" "Funny how, I mean funny like I'm a clown, I amuse you?" This is a famous scene for Joe Pesci as his acting is incredible. As far as this film goes, this is a perfect film for everyone who is a huge fan of Martin Scorsese. It has a great story that is so true, fantastic Oscar winning acting by everyone who played great characters and best direction from Martin Scorsese. It's everyone's favourite film of all time and considered one of the greatest films of all time. Never rat on your friends, and always keep your mouth shut.

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