GOODFELLAS

Lorraine Bracco and Ray Liotta

GOODFELLAS (1990). Director: Martin Scorsese.

As a boy Henry Hill (Christopher Serrone) admires the mobsters in the neighborhood who play by their own rules (unlike the "suckers") and goes to work for them. As an adult, Henry (Ray Liotta of The Son of No One) realizes he can only go so far because he is part Irish and not full Italian. In spite of this, he makes lots of money and marries a dead-common but feisty gal named Karen (Lorraine Bracco). Henry reports to Paulie Cicero (Paul Sorvino) but his main pals and associates are Jimmy (Robert De Niro) and the psychotic Tommy DeVito (Oscar-winning Joe Pesci). Henry risks Paulie's wrath when he goes against his orders and gets into the drug trafficking business ... 

Paul Sorvino

One thing you have to say about Goodfellas: it is not a dull movie and it is very well-acted by the entire cast. Although many mob films seem to glamorize the mafia, only an idiot can look at this movie and envy the gross lives of the characters who may for a time live in beautiful homes and have lots of moola but generally wind up dead or with long, long jail sentences. While I've no doubt much of the film, based on Nicholas Pileggi's Wiseguy (from Hill's recollections) is true, I also wouldn't doubt that Hill made himself out to be "nicer" than other mobsters and did his best to add to the alleged "glory" of his slimy legend. Entering the witness protection program (from which he was later thrown out), he became a minor celebrity for morons.

Robert De Niro

Goodfellas is undeniably entertaining and well-done, but one has to remember that its basic story -- the rise of a young man in the rackets -- is as old as the hills. The film offers an inside look into the stories of repellent low lives, but Goodfellas doesn't really have any more depth than, say, 1961's Portrait of a Mobster. Of course, when the lead character is a reptile like Hill you can hardly expect much humanism. Goodfellas is completely absorbing, but it's also depressing. Scorsese, De Niro, and Pesci all collaborated on Raging Bull ten years earlier.

Verdict: There really is no honor among thieves. ***. 

RAGING BULL

RAGING BULL (1980). Director: Martin Scorsese.

The unapologetic story of boxer Jake La Motta, who became middle-weight champion of the world for a time but also beat his wife out of almost pathological jealousy and all around was his own worst enemy, winding up doing stale routines in nightclubs in an effort to hold on to his celebrity and make some money. While the film is well-made and well-acted for the most part, Scorsese too often confuses violence with drama, and the film never quite overcomes the fact that its lead character is utterly repellent. Robert De Niro is fine as La Motta, but often he seems more like De Niro than La Motta. Cathy Moriarty and Joe Pesci are also quite good as, respectively, La Motta's wife and brother, whom he accuses of having an affair together. Sometimes Paul Schrader and Mardik Martin's screenplay strains to find serious drama in this story of a moronic lug. Still, while the film isn't really great despite its reputation, it does hold the attention and has some good scenes. Much of the film's atmosphere and power is actually derived from the background music, taken from the work of Italian opera composer Pietro Mascagni (the music comes from Cavalleria rusticana, Silvano and Guglielmo Ratcliff). This really doesn't compare favorably to other films that also deal with brutal environments and characters, such as On the Waterfront.

Verdict: Acclaimed but not for all tastes. ***.