Martin Scorsese is no stranger to my Top 100 movies, and it honestly took great restraint to not put the majority of his filmography on this list. But where’s the fun in that? Anyway, taking up spot #18 of my top 100, and the top Scorsese film on the list is Goodfellas. Goodfellas has everything you could want from Scorsese film, mobsters, New York City, influence of French New Wave (but done better), brutal violence, tracking shots, characters you love to hate, the greed of man and the enticement of sinful lifestyle, and Italian stereotypes. Seriously, this movie has it all.

A young Henry Hill becomes enamored with the Mafia lifestyle and takes a job working for local Mafia head, Paulie Cicero. His first job is acting as a fence for Jimmy Conway and he works his way up alongside Tommy DeVito to more serious work. Henry, Jimmy and Tommy spend their free time together at the Copa (Copacabana – the hottest spot north of Havana). Henry starts dating a woman named Karen, and though she has misgivings about his criminal ways, she is enticed by the glamor, and they get married. Billy Batts, a member of the Gambino crime family harasses Tommy, inciting Tommy and Jimmy to kill him, and with Henry’s help, they bury the body. Jimmy and Henry travel to Tampa to collect a debt from a gambler, but are arrested and given a 10-year sentence. While in prison, Henry has Karen smuggle him drugs to sell, beginning a cocaine empire. Once out, Henry expands his empire with Jimmy and Tommy’s help, against Paulie’s wishes. Jimmy organizes a raid of the Lufthansa vault at JFK Airport for six million in cash and jewelry. However, their getaway car is discovered by police and some of the crew make expensive purchases, and so Jimmy has them all killed, except Henry and Tommy. Tommy is led to believe he will become a made man for the family, but at the supposed ceremony, he is ambushed and killed for the murder of Batts. Henry’s own drug habits make him paranoid and he is arrested. Karen bails him out, but flushes the rest of their product down the toilet to avoid the cops finding it. Between these two events, they are left penniless. Karen and Henry both go to Jimmy for help on separate occasions, and both rightfully assume they’re about to be killed, so they leave. They turn to being informants, getting Paulie and Jimmy arrested and going into witness protection. Henry laments how boring his life has become.

Goodfellas is not for the crowd who has to find a character to root for. This movie doesn’t have one. Tommy DeVito, in particular, is one of the worst characters in all of cinema, and Joe Pesci is perfection in the role (he received significant praise for it). Scorsese has also commented, in regard to the irredeemability of the characters, that his goal was to make the audience angry with them by the end of it. He succeeds. Goodfellas has been lauded as the “greatest mob movie of all time”, with comparisons made with The Godfather, and has been a major inspiration for television shows such as The Sopranos and Breaking Bad. It is also considered such an accurate portrayal of the mafia by actual members, including the real Henry Hill. Oh, yeah. In case I didn’t make it clear before, this wild and violent movie is based on true events.

Bonus Review: The Irishman

Another Scorsese film about the mob, based on a book, based on true events, starring Robert DeNiro and Joe Pesci. The Irishman, instead of being at the height of Scorsese’s career, is from what is expected to be near the end, and finds Scorsese in a very reflective and mortal mood. It covers fifty years in the life of Frank Sheeran aka “The Irishman” – the man who took credit for the murder of Jimmy Hoffa. Much has been said of the long runtime and the use of CGI to de-age Robert DeNiro, Al Pacino and Joe Pesci. The de-aging looks good, in my opinion, but while you can use CGI to change the look of an older person, you can’t change the walk or voice of an old person. So, there are instances where it’s just not believable but it’s still an interesting experiment for the future of film. Now, the runtime, which is 209 minutes long and Scorsese’s longest film to date, does not feel that long. It moves at a leisurely pace, but it also has a lot to cover and is a reflection on what little there is left at the end of a long life spent in sin.

The majority of the film is told through flashback as an old Frank Sheeran recounts his life while in a nursing home. In the 50s, Sheeran is a union delivery truck driver who starts selling some of his meat to a Philadelphia crime family. The delivery company accuses Sheeran of theft, but because he refuses to name who he sells the meat to, union lawyer Bill Bufalino gets the case dismissed. Bill’s cousin, Russell, recruits Frank to work for him, including “painting houses”, which is code for carrying out a hit. Frank is introduced to Jimmy Hoffa and they develop a fast friendship, Frank even becomes his bodyguard. Hoffa goes to prison for jury tampering and when he gets out, he attempts to work his way back to the top of the Teamsters by any means necessary. His cavalier ways worry Russell and the other crime family leaders and they agree he should be done away with. Frank is made the triggerman to avoid him warning Hoffa in advance. Originally, Hoffa is to have a meeting with some others at a restaurant but Frank shows up and tells him the meeting place has changed. He drives Hoffa over to an empty house, shoots him in the head and leaves while others come to take the body to be cremated. A grand jury is unable to connect Frank or the mob leaders to Hoffa’s murder, so they’re all arrested on lesser, unrelated charges. Most of them die in prison. Frank is eventually released and enters a nursing home. He is alone, his family estranged and his daughters unwilling to reconcile. He is absolved by a priest, and asks the priest to leave the door cracked open to let in the light when he leaves.