Jesse Snoddon’s review published on Letterboxd:
"As far back as I can remember I always wanted to be a gangster"
This is Goodfellas, so I think it's safe to forego the usual quick synopsis since it's such a high profile, well known film. For the same reason, there's not much to add so I'll just discuss what stood out to me this round.
What stood out most was De Niro. Everyone rightfully talks about Joe Pesci's psychotic Tommy DeVito being a terrifying force of chaos ready to lose his shit and explode into violence at any given moment. Sure, the thought of being around someone with such a short fuse is scary. But for my money De Niro's Jimmy is far scarier. The way he kind of hangs back, letting Tommy put on a blustery show while he pulls the strings that control the narrative is so controlled. The way he's willing to coldly dispatch even the people closest to him to advance his own interests and protect himself from legal jeopardy is chilling stuff. It's true evil mastermind stuff. Even when he shows what seems to be genuine emotion over the news of Tommy's fate changes with closer scrutiny. All his schemes rely on Tommy being "made" since, as a non "full blooded" Italian he himself can never be. He's been essentially puppeteering Tommy in a long term plan, and (in my opinion) his reaction to his loss is more about the plans to rule by proxy that he's spent so much time on going up in smoke than Tommy's fate. It helps that De Niro is doing incredible work here too. One of the best scenes in the movie relies entirely on his face. He stands with a drink in hand, overhearing information that makes him realize someone he knows may be a loose end. We can see every stage of his thought process as he works out what to do about it, from the briefest hesitation to a cold resignation and reserved smile that locks his decision inside. Great stuff.
The other thing that stood out was just how far Scorsese takes Henry's drug addled, paranoid descent into madness. It's a truly fantastic unravelling and Liotta commits so hard to taking it to 11 that it's impossible not to be captivated. It's so off the rails and such a great mixture of tragedy and comedy.
Goodfellas is a perfect storm of a film that stands in the top tier among gangster pictures as a quintessential representation of the genre.
Jesse liked these reviews
All
' ].join(''); if ( adsScript && adsScript === 'bandsintown' && adsPlatforms && ((window.isIOS && adsPlatforms.indexOf("iOS") >= 0) || (window.isAndroid && adsPlatforms.indexOf("Android") >= 0)) && adsLocations && adsMode && ( (adsMode === 'include' && adsLocations.indexOf(window.adsLocation) >= 0) || (adsMode === 'exclude' && adsLocations.indexOf(window.adsLocation) == -1) ) ) { var opts = { artist: "", song: "", adunit_id: 100005950, div_id: "cf_async_deeed4a6-7aa1-4bc4-96ee-37a3c16a25a1" }; adUnit.id = opts.div_id; if (target) { target.insertAdjacentElement('beforeend', adUnit); } else { tag.insertAdjacentElement('afterend', adUnit); } var c=function(){cf.showAsyncAd(opts)};if(typeof window.cf !== 'undefined')c();else{cf_async=!0;var r=document.createElement("script"),s=document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0];r.async=!0;r.src="//srv.tunefindforfans.com/fruits/apricots.js";r.readyState?r.onreadystatechange=function(){if("loaded"==r.readyState||"complete"==r.readyState)r.onreadystatechange=null,c()}:r.onload=c;s.parentNode.insertBefore(r,s)}; } else { adUnit.id = 'pw-deeed4a6-7aa1-4bc4-96ee-37a3c16a25a1'; adUnit.className = 'pw-div -tile300x250 -alignleft -bottommargin'; adUnit.setAttribute('data-pw-' + (renderMobile ? 'mobi' : 'desk'), 'med_rect_btf'); if (target) { target.insertAdjacentElement('beforeend', adUnit); } else { tag.insertAdjacentElement('afterend', adUnit); } window.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', (event) => { adUnit.insertAdjacentHTML('afterend', kicker); window.ramp.que.push(function () { window.ramp.addTag('pw-deeed4a6-7aa1-4bc4-96ee-37a3c16a25a1'); }); }, { once: true }); } } tag.remove(); })(document.getElementById('script-deeed4a6-7aa1-4bc4-96ee-37a3c16a25a1'));
' ].join(''); if ( adsScript && adsScript === 'bandsintown' && adsPlatforms && ((window.isIOS && adsPlatforms.indexOf("iOS") >= 0) || (window.isAndroid && adsPlatforms.indexOf("Android") >= 0)) && adsLocations && adsMode && ( (adsMode === 'include' && adsLocations.indexOf(window.adsLocation) >= 0) || (adsMode === 'exclude' && adsLocations.indexOf(window.adsLocation) == -1) ) ) { var opts = { artist: "", song: "", adunit_id: 100005950, div_id: "cf_async_42c5b1bc-5163-47b2-ab7a-a925b9b234db" }; adUnit.id = opts.div_id; if (target) { target.insertAdjacentElement('beforeend', adUnit); } else { tag.insertAdjacentElement('afterend', adUnit); } var c=function(){cf.showAsyncAd(opts)};if(typeof window.cf !== 'undefined')c();else{cf_async=!0;var r=document.createElement("script"),s=document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0];r.async=!0;r.src="//srv.tunefindforfans.com/fruits/apricots.js";r.readyState?r.onreadystatechange=function(){if("loaded"==r.readyState||"complete"==r.readyState)r.onreadystatechange=null,c()}:r.onload=c;s.parentNode.insertBefore(r,s)}; } else { adUnit.id = 'pw-42c5b1bc-5163-47b2-ab7a-a925b9b234db'; adUnit.className = 'pw-div'; adUnit.setAttribute('data-pw-' + (renderMobile ? 'mobi' : 'desk'), 'sky_btf'); if (target) { target.insertAdjacentElement('beforeend', adUnit); } else { tag.insertAdjacentElement('afterend', adUnit); } window.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', (event) => { adUnit.insertAdjacentHTML('afterend', kicker); window.ramp.que.push(function () { window.ramp.addTag('pw-42c5b1bc-5163-47b2-ab7a-a925b9b234db'); }); }, { once: true }); } } tag.remove(); })(document.getElementById('script-42c5b1bc-5163-47b2-ab7a-a925b9b234db'));
