Goodfellas
is a gritty, quintessential follow up to Martin Scorsese’s own 1973 film
Mean Streets about “wiseguys,” one in particular named Henry Hill. The film is
based on ex-mobster Henry Hill’s true story, how he always wanted to be a
gangster.
At times
it is violent, and yet funny (“Funny? Funny
how?”), Goodfellas throughout it is an carefully paced rise and fall crime
tale narrated by Ray Liotta, who portrays Henry Hill. Robert De Niro turns in
a fine performance, as usual as the gangster James Conway (AKA Jimmy da Gent).
Joe Pesci and Ray Liotta are the main characters though. Pesci’s foul-mouthed
character Tommy De Vito is Italian, while Henry Hill and James Conway are not
full-blooded Italians, so they can “never be made.” Scorsese’s excellent
direction is evident, and it’s inconceivable to imagine the film made by
someone else—it just would not be the same. Though there are quite a few small
mistakes in the film, most people will not even notice. You can find these
mistakes listed in the trivia below.
Using
the F-word about 246 times, Goodfellas is exceeded in volume of strong language
only by Pulp
Fiction and Scorsese’s later but lesser film Casino (1995), which could
also be known as F*%#: The Motion Picture. That’s…a joke. You can laugh now…
Another
Scorsese/De Niro/Pesci team film is Raging Bull (1980),
said to be the greatest boxing film. De Niro won Best Actor for his role as
boxer Jake LaMotta, and Pesci was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his
role as De Niro’s loyal, much beaten upon brother Joey.
Related Links:
Trivia about Goodfellas:
Quotes from Goodfellas:
Henry Hill: As far back as I can remember I always wanted to be
a gangster.
Tommy: Oh, oh, Anthony. He's a big guy, he knows what he
said. What did you say? Funny how?
Henry:
Just... ya know, you're, you're funny.
Henry:
Just...you know how to tell the story, what?
Henry:
Get the fuck outta here, Tommy!
Billy Batts: Now, go home and get your fuckin' shinebox.
Tommy De
Vito: Motherfuck', mutt, you... you fuckin' piece of shit!
Billy Batts:
Yeah, yeah, yeah... come on, come on, come on!
Tommy: She's prejudiced against Italians. Can you believe that? In this day in age, a Jew broad, prejudiced against Italians! You fuckin' believe that? In this day and age. What da' fuck is this world comin' to?
Tommy De Vito: All right, so he got shot in the foot. What is it, a big fuckin' deal?
Tommy's mom: Why don't you get yourself a nice girl?
Tommy:
I get a nice one almost every night, mom.
Tommy's
mom: Yeah, but get yourself a girl so you could settle down!
Jimmy da Gent: Why don't you settle down?
Henry Hill: [narrating] And when the cops, they assigned a whole army to stop Jimmy, what'd he do? He made 'em partners!
Henry Hill: Jimmy was the kind of guy that rooted for bad guys in the movies.
Henry Hill: [narrating] Whenever we needed money, we'd rob the airport. To us, it was better than Citibank.
Henry Hill: [narrating] And then there was Jimmy Two Times, who got that nickname because he said everything twice, like:
Jimmy Two Times: I'm gonna go get the papers, get the papers.
Maury: What am I? A schmuck on wheels?
Henry Hill: [narrating] All they got from Paulie was protection from other guys looking to rip them off. That's what it's all about. That's what the FBI can never understand - that what Paulie and the organization offer is protection for the kinds of guys who can't go to the cops. They're like the police department for wiseguys.
Henry Hill: [narrating] Paulie might have moved slow, but it was only because Paulie didn't have to move for anybody.
Henry Hill: [narrating] One day the kids from the neighborhood carried my mother's grocieries all the way home. You know why? It was outta respect.
Henry Hill: [narrating] Thirty-two hundred dollars he gave me. Thirty-two hundred dollars for a lifetime. It wasn't even enough to pay for the coffin.
Tommy: What the fuck are you doing? You're hanging around my fuckin' neck like a vulture, like impending death!
Henry Hill: That's the way it is with a wiseguy partner. He gets his money no matter what. You got no business? Fuck you, pay me. You had a fire? Fuck you, pay me. The place got hit by lightning and World War Three started in the lounge? Fuck you, pay me.
Tommy: You know Spider, you're a fuckin' mumbling stuttering little fuck. You know that?
Spider: I thought you said, “I was alright, Spider.”
Tommy: I am all right, no you ain't all right, you little
fuckin' prick.
Spider: [hesitating] Why don't you go fuck yourself, Tommy?
[stunned silence]
Jimmy da Gent: WHOA! I don't believe what I'm hearing! Check out the BALLS on this kid! Hey Spider, this is for you! [tosses money on the table] That's the way! You don't take no shit from nobody!
[With the suitcase open on the
desk, Henry counts out stacks of cash]
Henry: Thirty-five, forty, forty-five, fifty, sixty thousand.
Jimmy da Gent: It's gonna be a good summer.
[Henry, Jimmy and Tommy are digging with shovels to find Batts's corpse. Henry is sickened by the stench, but the others don't appear to be bothered]
Tommy: Hey Henry, Henry, hurry up will you? My mother's gonna make some fried peppers and sausage for us. Oh hey, Henry, Henry. Here's an arm.
Henry: Very funny, guys.
Tommy: Hey, here's a leg. Here's a wing. [He laughs] Hey, what do you like, the leg or the wing, Henry? Or do you still go for the old hearts and lungs?
[Henry vomits]
Henry Hill: [narrating] Anything I wanted was a phone call away. Free cars. The keys to a dozen hideout flats all over the city. I bet twenty, thirty grand over a weekend and then I'd either blow the winnings in a week or go to the sharks to pay back the bookies.
[Henry leaves the witness stand
and speaks directly to the camera]
Didn't matter. It didn't mean anything. When I was broke, I'd go out and rob some more. We ran everything. We paid off cops. We paid off lawyers. We paid off judges. Everybody had their hands out. Everything was for the taking. And now it's all over.
That's the hardest part. Today everything is different. There's no action. I have to wait around like everyone else. Can't even get decent food. Right after I got here I ordered some spaghetti with marinara sauce and I got egg noodles and ketchup. I'm an average nobody. I get to live the rest of my life like a schnook.
Cast
overview, first billed only:
Robert De Niro .... James Conway
Ray Liotta .... Henry Hill
Joe Pesci .... Tommy De Vito
Lorraine Bracco .... Karen Hill
Paul Sorvino .... Paul Cicero
Frank Sivero .... Frankie Carbone
Tony Darrow .... Sonny Bunz
Mike Starr ....
Frenchy
Frank Vincent ....
Billy Batts
Frank DiLeo .... Tuddy Cicero
Henny Youngman .... Himself
Gina Mastrogiacomo .... Janice Rossi
Catherine Scorsese .... Tommy's Mother
Charles Scorsese .... Vinnie
