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    Goodfellas

    Reviewed by
    adamwatchesmovies@

    "GoodFellas" is a well shot, well acted gangster film that has a lot to say about organized crime and even if you're not a fan of the genre, you'll be able to appreciate it as a great film. Henry Hill (Ray Liotta) grew up idolizing gangsters. After being taken under the wing of Paul “Paulie” Cicero (Paul Sorvino) and his associates, he begins living the high life. Along with Jimmy the Gent (Robert De Niro), Tommy DeVito (Joe Pesci) and the rest of the blue-collar low lives, he makes a lot of money. Taking what he wants from who he wants and firmly believing that anyone with a respectable 9 to 5 job is a sucker. The film follows his career as a criminal for thirty years, beginning in late 1967.

    When you follow characters such as these, people who deal in bootlegging, violence and crime daily, it's hard to be able to empathize or care about them because you don't want to associate yourself with these unsavoury characters. What "GoodFellas" does to get around this obstacle is follow a single character continuously from very early in his life. Once you realize how bad all of the people surrounding him are and how at any instant, for any reason he could be murdered and buried in a hole in the woods you care about him and start to really feel the tension that builds throughout the movie. In a way, I see the film as a tragedy because you get to see what the appeal of this life is while realizing, because you’re comfortably sitting in your chair at the movie theatre why it’s a house built on a flimsy foundation.

    Martin Scorsese convincingly shows the intricacies of organized crime and by doing so it doesn't feel like the picture is glorifying the lifestyle at all. The "family" the mob builds seems more like a cult, with only selected members able to advance because of their ancestry. Once you’re in, your friends and family members slowly begin getting edged out and replaced with the other criminals you do business with, but it's obvious that there is no real love between any of the people involved. They only see each other as means to an end. It’s so unsettling to see how gradually these changes occur until you understand how these people are able to do what they do to make ends meet... all they see is people doing the same thing every day of their lives! Despite the so-called comfort that the family life brings, you are always on edge for these characters, and not because of the fact that you might think the police might come in at some point. Many members are shown as reckless and violent while being terrified of each other. They're ready to jump at each other's throats like dogs the second anyone gives them a dirty look or provokes them. You get that mix of the tension, but you also see the seductive aspect of it all. It convincingly shows you what the appeal of the lifestyle is and how people get seduced by the money despite all of the risks and danger involved.

    On top of all of the great drama and thrills playing out, the film is very well shot. There are long, uninterrupted shots through corridors and scenes that build suspense before an explosion of violence we know is only seconds away. It's also expertly acted, with dialogue that feels genuine and flows smoothly. I’m not a fan of gangster movies, or I wasn’t until I saw this picture. Now, I’m willing to give stories about this kind of subject a second look. Despite its long running time "GoodFellas" never feels slow and even though it was released in 1990, it's still shocking and provocative. (Theatrical version on the big screen, February 5, 2013)

    10
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    adamwatchesmovies@  28.7.2015 age: 26-35 2,867 reviews

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