Jake’s review published on Letterboxd:
Fantastic. Just perfect in nearly every regard, a master class in filmmaking and in my opinion its Martin Scorsese’s best movie.
Its one of the most well paced movies ever, with every scene flowing into the next flawlessly. Their is a perfect rise and fall arc , with the first half *mostly showing the mafia and “wise guys” as if its fun and full of camaraderie, with the second half revealing the truth of it with a more tense and tragic vibe. Its wierdly a comforting movie to me, something about all the sets and lighting just give off these good vibes and the old 90s movie aesthetic that I love. The prison dinner scene is one if the most homey comforting scenes ever and i dont know why. Scorsese is a master of tension, with plenty of amazing intense scenes, especially the iconic “funny how?” scene. The script is amazing with tons of sharp and catchy dialogue. Incredible shots and cinematography, the long one-take shot of Henry and Karen going to the restaurant is a classic. Awesome soundtrack, great songs throughout. This movies just a masterpiece in all technical aspects.
The three main actors are all incredible, with Joe Pesci, Robert De Niro and especially the late Ray Liotta all giving all time great performances. This may be Joe Pesci’s best but that could also be said for Casino, here he give off a much more intense and scary vibe, being both the most menacing and one of the funniest characters of the film. Robert De Niro is amazing at saying very little while meaning a lot and its always fun to see. That one shot of him contemplating murder while Sunshine of your Love is playing is so fucking cool. Paul Sorvino plays a fantastic mob boss and he has a great commanding presence (“Pauly didn’t move much…but thats because Pauly didn’t have to move for nobody”). Lorraine Bracco is also amazing as Karen, and shes the perfect character to show the shitty side of being part of a mafia family. As a Sopranos fan it was pretty crazy seeing just how much of the cast would later be in that show, some i didnt notice before.
Not much else original to say, its Goodfellas, its one of the greatest movies ever made. One of my faves of all time that I can put on whenever and be entertained. Honestly the sheer style and flow of the storytelling probably makes this my favourite gangster movie ever. Can give nothing but the highest recommendation.
