GoodFellas (1990)

GoodFellas arrived in cinemas in September 1990, adapted from Nicholas Pileggi's 1985 non-fiction book Wiseguy, which drew on the real testimony of Henry Hill, a Brooklyn-raised associate of the Lucchese crime family who turned government informant. Pileggi co-wrote the screenplay alongside director Martin Scorsese, giving the film a grounded authenticity that sets it apart from more romanticised takes on organised crime. The story covers roughly three decades, following Hill from his teenage years in the late 1950s through to his entry into the federal witness protection programme, charting the seductions, violence and paranoia of mob life with an almost documentary proximity. Produced by Irwin Winkler for Warner Bros. Pictures, the film runs to 145 minutes and carries the deceptively simple tagline: "Three decades of life in the mafia."

By 1990, Scorsese had already established himself as one of American cinema's most distinctive voices, with a body of work ranging from street-level character studies to pop-inflected black comedies (you can read my thoughts on The King of Comedy, one of his more underrated pictures from that earlier period). He had also, interestingly, made Italianamerican, a short documentary portrait of his own parents that revealed just how personally connected he was to the Italian-American world he kept returning to on screen. GoodFellas channels all of that familiarity into its filmmaking, using wall-to-wall pop and rock music, restless camerawork and an almost breathless editorial rhythm to put the audience inside the experience rather than looking in from outside. The result is a picture that feels polished but never sanitised, propulsive but never careless.

The cast is about as strong as a crime film has ever assembled. Ray Liotta leads as Henry Hill, a role that required him to carry enormous stretches of the film, often via voiceover, while conveying both the genuine thrill Hill feels in his world and the creeping cost of it all. Robert De Niro, no stranger to this territory (his work in The Untouchables three years earlier demonstrated the authority he brings to morally compromised men of that era), plays Jimmy Conway with a cool, coiled menace. Lorraine Bracco brings considerable weight to Karen Hill, Henry's wife, whose own narration threads through the film and complicates the audience's relationship with the glamour on display. Paul Sorvino rounds out the principal ensemble as Paulie Cicero, the measured patriarch of the local mob. And then there is Joe Pesci as Tommy DeVito, a performance that would win him the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and which remains one of the most talked-about turns in modern American cinema.

“as far back as I can remember” Now this is how you tell a gangster story. Scorsese firing on all cylinders. Fast-paced, stylish, brutal, and totally gripping from start to finish. You’re dropped into the world of Henry Hill and it just doesn’t let go. The storytelling is masterful. That voiceover, the constant sense of motion, the “as far back as I can remember” opener… it’s all iconic. The rise and fall arc is pitch-perfect and never drags. Every scene feels purposeful, electric. Acting-wise it's top-tier. Ray Liotta gives a career-best performance. De Niro is excellent, but Joe Pesci absolutely steals the show as dangerous, unhinged, hilarious. You don’t know whether to laugh or brace yourself every time he’s on screen. It’s slick, stylish cinema but never loses the grime and danger underneath. Funny, disturbing, and deeply human. It’s not just one of the best gangster films ever made. It’s one of the best films full stop.

Coming back to GoodFellas after any amount of time, what gets me is how the film never lets you get comfortable. You're laughing one moment, then the mood shifts on a sixpence and you're reminded exactly what these men are capable of. Scorsese doesn't ask you to admire them, but he does make sure you understand the pull, and that moral complexity is what keeps it rewatchable in a way that slicker, more straightforward crime pictures simply aren't. If you're after more Scorsese from the site, my take on Gangs of New York is worth a look for another of his big, sprawling portraits of violence and ambition. GoodFellas, though, is the one I keep coming back to. Some films age. This one just sharpens.

Rating: ★★★★½  | Year: 1990  | Watched: 2025-04-09

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Trailer

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Related on Movies With Macca

More from Martin Scorsese: Italianamerican (1974) · The King of Comedy (1982) · Gangs of New York (2002) · Cape Fear (1991)
More with Robert De Niro: The Untouchables (1987) · The King of Comedy (1982) · Shark Tale (2004) · Little Fockers (2010)
More from the 1990s: Lessons of Darkness (1992) · Shinjuku Boys (1995) · Blue (1993) · Cemetery Man (1994)
More drama: Viy (1967) · Wonder (2017) · A Better Tomorrow (1986) · Beautiful Boy (2018)
More crime: A Better Tomorrow (1986) · Angst (1983) · Stolen Face (1952) · Cairo Station (1958)