What makes "GoodFellas" great.

One of the most re-watchable films of all time, Goodfellas has transported us into the life of the mafia in a way that few films have ever done as effectively as this. It's a film that isn't afraid to show you the glorification and high life of the criminal underworld and the lavish lives of the men who associate with it. But Scorsese knows that the pictures of wealth and power are only illusions to the true brutality of the mob.

Telling the true story of Henry Hill and his 3 decades of life in the mafia, we see the highs and lows that come with his life in the mafia. From his early years of selling cigarettes and blowing up parking lots in 1955, to his eventual drug-induced downfall in 1980. Hill is the narrator throughout most of the story and his description of the activities he and his accomplices take part it is told in a very matter of fact way. One of the best examples of this is when Henry and his friends are serving a prison term and the first thing Henry discusses is the dinner preparations that they make for an evening, describing the situation as if special prisons for high- class criminals with essentially their own establishment where the worst thing that can happen is smelling up the place when overcooking is just a normal thing, which for them it was. The first half of the film mainly focuses on Henry's pampered life as a criminal with the iconic long take of Henry taking Karen through a shortcut accessible only by gangsters to get into a fancy club ("The Copa Shot") serving as a prime example of how different this life is. However, once Henry marries Karen is when we begin to see the mobster life for what it really is. When Henry's friends Jimmy and Tommy murder Billy Batts, a high ranking member in a brutal way at Henry's bar. While the importance of the scene signifies the trouble the three find themselves in with killing a "Made Man", the real impact of the scene is a shaken Hill who is clearly disturbed by the violence of his friend's actions. The scene that follows where they go to Tommy's mother's (played by Scorsese's actual mother) house to get a knife to finish the job is perhaps the funniest and best scene in the movie. Tommy's mother prepares food for them and they discuss small talk like her paintings and how Tommy should get married as if the brutal they did just prior never happened. Henry doesn't talk at all during all these unless directly spoken to, signifying he is still thinking about that moment. We then see the three driving on the road until Batt's starts moving around in the trunk. They then pull over and Finish him off. The film also opens with this scene with Henry slamming the trunk showing a face of concern and his first use of narration saying "As far back as I can remember I always wanted to be a gangster". It's ironic he says this as this moment as his face in the freeze frame signifies Henry rethinking whether he really wants this.

The characters and performances are also a big part of what makes this movie work. Ray Liotta gives his most iconic and best performance as Henry Hill. He plays him as ambitious to a fault and perfectly captures the different ways we see him throughout the film, whether cool and cocky or a drug-addicted nervous wreck. Robert De Niro gives one of his best performance as well as Jimmy Conway, the man who acts as a father figure to Henry. We see him at the beginning as a god in the eyes of Henry Hill who cares for Henry and wants the best for him, but we see as the film goes on that he is just a murderous snake who is willing to kill anyone that might draw attention to him or rat him out, even if they are his closest friends. Joe Pesci, of course, steals the show as Tommy, a short-tempered psychopath who can pull out his guns or fists at even the lowest forms of insults. He is in many ways the opposite of Henry, as he seems to have no problem with carrying out his brutal actions. After he Beats Billy Batts in Henry's bar, the first thing that comes out of his mouth is "I didn't wanna get blood on your floor". He has a similar episode when playing cards late at night where he plays around with their waiter "Spider" with his gun. He eventually kills him after Spider tells him to go fuck himself and doesn't show any remorse for doing it despite Jimmy of all people calling him a "sick maniac". Another fascinating character is Henry's wife Karen played by a terrific Loraine Bracco. She is the only other character who narrates in the movie. She, much like the audience is the outside looking in with her being fascinated and turned on to Henry's glamorous and violent life. She not only chooses to marry Henry but marries the mob as well, as she becomes more involved with Henry's schemes as the film goes on.

Goodfellas also has one of the best soundtracks ever brought to film. All the musical cues fit so well in the scenes they are in. They constantly change in terms of genre as the film goes on signifying the changing time with the jazz and classic rock playing in the 50s and 60s segments. Then in the 70s, we get the more hard rock songs from "gimme shelter" and "Monkey Man by the stones. they also go perfectly with the scenes they are in, with "Sunshine of Your Love" by cream playing as Jimmy begins to become paranoid of his partner's foolish overspending of their heist money eventually tracing back to him. Also during Henry's drug-induced episode at the end trying to get so many things done shifts from music beat to music beat, symbolizing Henry's paranoia.

The key theme of the film is that there are no real friends in the criminal world. Early in the film, after beating his first case against him, Jimmy congratulates him and tells him he has learned the two greatest things in life, "Never rat in your friends, and always keep your mouth shut". At the end of the film, however, he does exactly that to Jimmy and everyone else he once saw as friends to avoid jail, but he also does this because they are the people who now want him died. Henry also doesn't seem to regret any of his actions and wishes he was still doing those things, he may not enjoy the more violent aspects, but he loves the life it brings him. We can see this through his narration as he seems to look at things through a very nostalgic tome at times. He complains of the lack of action and lack of lavish living in the average world, and the image he sees of Tommy shooting at the front of the screen signifies how he wishes he could have it all back.

Goodfellas has stood toe to toe with the likes of The Godfather as one of the best mob movies ever made. It's Scorsese at his absolute peak.