Wednesday, December 21, 2005
From the Vault: GoodFellas
BLOGGER'S NOTE: This is one of those reviews I find embarrassing now, not for my opinion but for my writing, especially the lead, whose corniness makes me cringe. Since I must have a Scorsese section, I'm biting the bullet and running it the same way it did in 1990.
With a cast as zesty as the marinara and writing and direction as spicy as the meatballs, Martin Scorsese delivers the year's best film with his adaptation of Nicholas Pileggi's account of a Mafia wiseguy. GoodFellas, co-written by Scorsese and Pileggi, stars Ray Liotta as Henry Hill, a half-Irish/half-Sicilian kid who always longed to be a gangster. Story is secondary because Scorsese, possibly the greatest American filmmaker working today, paints a cinematic canvas in GoodFellas that should make any movie lover giddy with excitement. The film tells the story of 25 years of crime, where the "murderers come with a smile," bosses fear telephones and 21-year-old kids get treated like movie stars. While the brutal side of the life is shockingly shown, Scorsese's film also explains how someone can turn their backs on morality when the money comes in that fast. His film, while not forgiving the violence, casts a nostalgic glow as it draws indelible portraits of the criminals surrounding Henry. The gang includes Jimmy Conway (Robert DeNiro), a guy who "roots for the bad guys in the movies." Being Irish, he can never be a "made man" in the Mafia, but he still becomes a legend as a master thief with a nasty temper. The criminal who bears the most watching is Tommy (Joe Pesci), a spitfire who feels the need to prove himself constantly, often with deadly results. Paul Sorvino plays Paul Cicero, the boss who says little but get things done whether on the streets or behind bars. The actors deserve a great deal of the credit for the movie's success. Liotta, DeNiro, Pesci and Sorvino all excel, but one of the best performances belongs to Lorraine Bracco as Henry's wife. Bracco -- who first made an impression in Someone to Watch Over Me -- combines an earthy cynicism with a somewhat angelic naivete to create an Oscar-worthy portrait. Still, the Scorsese universe shines the most. The film opens with credits that speed across the screen before braking and Scorsese uses this rhythm to push GoodFellas through its entire 145 minutes. With each new film, Scorsese exemplifies his love of film as well as his knowledge of the medium's history. He controls every aspect of his work to consistently stunning effect.
With frequent freeze frames and paranoid points-of-view, Scorsese tells a dizzyingly entertaining story of crime. GoodFellas, in some ways, resembles Scorsese's Mean Streets, a film often described as the flip side of American Graffiti. The new film -- the work of an accomplished, more mature artist -- lifts the technique of wall-to-wall music that made George Lucas' coming-of-age film stand out and raises it to new heights. Beginning with Tony Bennett's "Rags to Riches" and ending with Sid Vicious' take on "My Way," Scorsese uses songs and music as successfully as any film director has, especially in a virtuoso sequence involving the instrumental portion of Eric Clapton's "Layla" and the discovery of murder victims. GoodFellas can be praised on so many levels, but space limitations require a quick summation. Simply put, GoodFellas is 1990's best film.
