Movie Reviews

Along with the Godfather trilogy, Martin Scorsese's Goodfellas stands out at the top of the mobster/mafia genre.

What makes Goodfellas so remarkable, in my opinion, is the approach and point-of-view that the story takes. I'll back up for a second though, and comment on the fact that most mafia films share a lot of the same elements: things like powerful bosses, lots of examples of organized crime activities, troubled spousal and familial relationships, and above all, instances of important loyalties both adhered to and broken (often with fatal consequences). Most of Goodfellas deals with all of this same stuff (albeit in a singularly energetic and kinetic fashion).

But where the main characters of most mafia films are solidly entrenched in the gangster lifestyle -- to the point of viewing it as completely normal and as a simple course of business -- Goodfellas's Henry Hill (Ray Liotta) starts his life completely removed from those of the Mafioso that he eventually befriends and starts to works with. To become a gangster is something that Henry aspires to as a young boy. "As far back as I can remember," he narrates, "I always wanted to be a gangster." Unlike most other gangster characters, the mafia life isn't simply a job or a lifestyle that he was forced into. He loves every minute of it, and in a sense is something of an outsider who, by great strokes of 'luck' is able to acquire his dream-job. This status as an 'outsider' (which is also alluded to by the fact that, as only half-Italian, he'll never be able to reach the status of a "made man") provides for a strong connection with the audience; the audience of a film is, of course, the ultimate 'outsider', and so this small similarity allows us to better connect with Henry.

Scorsese maybe cheats a little bit (but not necessarily in a bad way) in striving to make Henry Hill seem like a sort of anti-hero. We never witness him doing anything particularly mean or violent; consequently, we like him a little more than most of the other characters, and when his downfall begins at the hands of drug-use and carelessness, he becomes something of a minor tragedy.

While most mafia movies are generally very character-driven, Goodfellas is one of the best because of its unique approach. Combined with Scorsese's excellent direction, it adds up to a really great film.