Goodfellas

Goodfellas DVD

Based on Nicholas Pileggi's book WISEGUY Martin Scorsese's GOODFELLAS is a wry violent and exhilarating film about the life of Henry Hill an aspiring criminal who ends up in the FBI's witness protection program after testifying against his former partners. As a poor Irish-Italian growing up in 1950s New York City Hill Ray Liotta rises through the ranks of his Brooklyn neighborhood's organized crime branch and with money from the mob he begins living the good life complete with a beautiful bride Karen Lorraine Bracco a fancy house and the best seats at the most exclusive restaurants. A botched robbery lands Henry in prison for a brief period of time and when he gets released his reckless infidelities and drug abuse damage his association with his adopted family. Scorsese's film is a visual and sonic onslaught featuring a brilliant pop-music soundtrack and stunning camera work--including the infamous Steadicam one-take that introduces the audience to the Copacabana's patrons. He uses the songs to infuse a breathtaking invigorating rhythm into every scene. As the psychopathic Tommy DeVito Joe Pesci delivers an unforgettable performance that is alarming in its cold-blooded callousness helping to cement GOODFELLAS' place as a classic portrait of life in the mob.

Goodfellas [VHS]

Martin Scorsese's 1990 masterpiece GoodFellas immortalizes the hilarious, horrifying life of actual gangster Henry Hill (Ray Liotta), from his teen years on the streets of New York to his anonymous exile under the Witness Protection Program. The director's kinetic style is perfect for recounting Hill's ruthless rise to power in the 1950s as well as his drugged-out fall in the late 1970s; in fact, no one has ever rendered the mental dislocation of cocaine better than Scorsese. Scorsese uses period music perfectly, not just to summon a particular time but to set a precise mood. GoodFellas is at least as good as The Godfather without being in the least derivative of it. Joe Pesci's psycho improvisation of Mobster Tommy DeVito ignited Pesci as a star, Lorraine Bracco scores the performance of her life as the love of Hill's life, and every supporting role, from Paul Sorvino to Robert De Niro, is a miracle.