(Review originally written at 4 October 2003)
Movies don't get any better then this!
The problem with gangster movies is that it always will be compared to the brilliant "Godfather" movies. Often when you do that you come to the conclusion that it's a very bad movie, however "Goodfellas" doesn't suffer from this curse. It's just as genius and at some points even better as the "Godfather" movies.
That it's based on true events also makes the movie interesting to watch. Rarely has the live of a gangster been portrayed so wonderfully and interesting. The story is told in a wonderful way without getting boring for a single second. Who didn't wanted to be a gangster for a day after seeing this movie ???
Next to the story there are three other truly great things about the movie: The cast, the characters and the dialogue. The cast is full with famous actor that all have been cast perfectly. Joe Pesci of course truly steals the show and it's no wonder he won a Oscar for his role. The famous "You think I'm funny?" scene with him is brilliant and amuses me every time, it truly is one of the best scene's of all time. A real classic! But let's not forget Ray Liotta and Robert De Niro who also give an amazing performance. Same goes for Catherine Scorsese as Joe Pesci's character Tommy's mother. She plays really natural and lot of fun scene's with great dialogue are the result. The wonderful stereotype gangster characters also add to this movie. How can you not like characters such as Frankie Carbone, Edward Stacks, Johnny two times, Morrie or Vinnie who puts too much tomatoes in the sauce. The movie is full with sharp and sometimes cruel but funny dialogue. All this things combined makes this a classic and magnificent movie, a movie that you MUST have at least seen once in your lifetime.
The movie is full with many great long scene's. Some of the longest I have ever seen. Most of those long scene's are the highlight of the movie. Great directing from Martin Scorsese!
Although it's a quite heavy movie it actually is also for some reason a fun movie to watch over and over again without getting ever boring.
Nothing short of brilliant! A must see for everyone.
10/10
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