After seeing The wolf of Wall Street (2013) by Martin Scorsese I have been wanting to see his earlier gangster movies, today I watched Goodfellas (1990). Starring Robert De Niro, Ray Liotta & Joe Pesci it’s a cookie cutter gangster film told with Scorsese’s magic sauce. I liked the screen play being narrated from the protagonist Henry Hill’s (Ray Liotta) point of view, the opening line where he says “As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a gangster” has become a guiding mantra for all gangster story writers in the last few decades.
As a young boy Henry Hill begins to look up to a local gang leader “Paulie”. After he grows he joins his Paulie’s gang consisting of “Jimmy” (played by Robert De Niro) and “Tommy” (played by Joe Pesci). They carry out various heists, get caught once, after release Henry getting into drug dealing before turning everyone to law enforcement through Witness protection program. I liked the love that develops and sustains between Henry and his wife Karen (played by Lorraine Bracco) through all the turbulent years in their life. I enjoyed watching Joe Pesci carry the Italian gangster role effortlessly, one of my all favourite movie is My Cousin Vinny (1992) starring Joe Pesci and Marisa Tomei both of whom delivering in that film a unforgettable performance.
