Goodfellas

One of my favorite Mafia movies ever!

Goodfellas

Did You Know?
-The scene where Pesci says "You think I'm funny?" was from a scene he acted out for Scorsese. When Pesci was younger, he told a mobster he thought the man was funny and the man became angry. So the scene in the movie is based on that


Joe Pesci and Catherine Scorsese. IDK why, but she reminds me of my stepdad's mother, who I call Grandma Rose.

-The F word is used 296 times in the movie, most of them being said by Pesci
-Director Martin Scorsese's mother Catherine plays Tommy's mother. And his father, Charles Scorsese is the prisoner who puts too many onions in the tomato sauce
-After Joe Pesci's mother saw the movie, she asked him if he had to swear so much.

-According to Henry Hill, who Ray Liotta played, Joe Pesci's role of Tommy DeVito was 90-99% accurate, with one problem: the real Tommy DeVito was a strong, muscular, massively built man
-The soundtrack did not include songs that were played in lengthy scenes showing Henry making drug deals. Songs include: Memo from Turner- The Rolling Stones, Mannish Boy- Muddy Waters, Jump Into the Fire- Nilsson, Magic Bus- The Who, Monkey Man- The Rolling Stones, What is Life- George Harrison, Toad- Cream

-At the time of filming, Pesci was in his 40s. His character was supposed to be in his 20s.
-Christopher Serrone, who plays young Henry, actually has brown eyes in real life. He wore blue eye contacts to match Liotta's blue eyes

L-R: Christopher Serrone, Robert De Niro and unknown actor

-During the scene that shows his character getting shot to death by Joe Pesci, Michael Imperioli had to be rushed to the hospital because he broke a glass in his hand.

Plot
-It begins with Henry Hill thinking "As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a gangster." He looked up to the Lucchese crime family growing up in his working class, Italian-American neighborhood of East New York, in Brooklyn in 1955. He quits school, much to the disgrace of his working class Irish father, and goes to work for them. His father tries to stop him from working for the wiseguys after learning he has been cutting school. But the guys have a solution. They run into the mailman, and ask him to deliver all letters from school to them or else the consequences could be deadly. Henry is now able to make a small living for himself, and he learns 2 very important lessons: "Never rat on your friends" and "Always keep your mouth shut." He puts these lessons to work early on in his life after being acquitted of criminal charges.

-He is taken under the caring wing of a local mob capo named Paul "Paulie" Cicero(Paul Sorvino) and his associates, Jimmy "The Gent" Conway(Robert De Niro), who goes nuts for hijacking trucks, and Tommy DeVito(Joe Pesci), who has a hot headed, hair trigger temper who goes psycho at any given time. In 1967, they commit the Air France Robbery, marking the day Henry officially becomes a member of the Mafia, like them. They spend most of their nights at a local club called the Copacabana, with numerous women. That's where Henry meets Karen(Lorraine Bracco), a Jewish girl from the Five Towns. Karen is initially worried by Henry's criminal background, but soon she is seduced by this glamorous life of his. When a neighbor assaults her for refusing his sexual advances, Henry pisto whips the guy in front of her. She suddenly is aroused by this act of violence, especially when Henry gives her the gun and tells her to hide it.

-June 11, 1970: Tommy, along with Jimmy's help, brutally beats a mobster named Billy Batts(Frank Vincent), who is a member of the Gambino crime family. Billy insulted Tommy for being a shoeshine boy when he was younger. However, Batts was a made man, which means he could not be touched with the go ahead from the Gambinos. And because of that, Jimmy, Henry and Tommy need to cover up the murder otherwise they could die, or in Mafia talk, get whacked. They take the body in the trunk of Henry's car and bury it upstate. 6 months later, Jimmy hears the site is going to be developed, so they must move it otherwise the body will be found and an autopsy will be done.

-Henry begins seeing a woman named Janice Rossi(Gina Mastrogiacomo), setting her up with an apartment. Karen discovers this, and she goes to Janice's apartment to confront her, but is not allowed in past the front door. She then confronts Henry, points a gun at his face, and threatens to kill them both, unless he tells her if he loves Janice. Karen can't bring herself to fire the gun and a now angry Henry threatens Karen with the gun and says he has bigger problems, like possibly being killed in the open street. Henry goes and lives in the apartment with Janice until things cool off. Paulie tells him to go back to Karen after completing a job for him. He and Jimmy are sent to get money from a gambler in Florida, which they complete successfully after beating him. However, most of the crew are arrested after being turned in by the gambler's sister, a typist for the FBI.

-Henry is now in prison. He sells drugs to support his family on the side. After he is released in 1978, the crew commits the Lufthansa heist at the John F. Kennedy Airport. Despite Paulie's warning to stop committing crimes, Henry goes farther and farther to establish himself in the drug world, convinving Tommy and Jimmy to join him. Jimmy has the other members of the Lufthansa heist killed after they ignore his warning to not buy anything expensive. Later on, Tommy is killed for the murder of Billy Batts, having been fooled into thinking he is going to be made.

-By the time 1980 rolls around, Henry is a nervous wreck from constant use of cocaine and insomnia. He tries to organize a drug deal with his associates in Pittsburgh. Unfortunately, he is caught by narcotics agents and is sent to prison. On his release, Karen tells him that she flushed $60,000 worth of cocaine down the toilet to avoid the FBI agents finding it during the raid. That makes Henry and his family virtually penniless. Paulie now feels Henry has betrayed him by dealing drugs, so he gives Henry $3,200 and ends his connection with him. Henry decides to enroll his family in the Witness Protection Program after realizing Jimmy intends to have him murdered. Now that he's not in the gangster world anymore, he now has to face life in the real world. "I'm an average nobody. I get to live the rest of my life as a schnook."

-Then as the movie is ending, titles explain that Henry was arrested on drug charges in Seattle, Washington, but has been cleasn since 1987. Paul Cicero died in Fort Worth Federal Prison of respiratory illness in 1988 at 73, Jimmy, in 1990, was serving a 20 year to life sentence in a New York State prison.

Cast

Actor	Role	Based on
Ray Liotta	Henry Hill	Henry Hill
Robert De Niro	Jimmy Conway	Jimmy Burke
Joe Pesci	Tommy DeVito	Thomas DeSimone
Lorraine Bracco	Karen Hill	Karen Hill (née Friedman)
Paul Sorvino	Paul Cicero	Paul Vario
Frank Sivero	Frankie Carbone	Angelo Sepe
Frank Vincent	Billy Batts	William "Billy Batts" Devino
Tony Darrow	Sonny Bunz	Angelo McConnach
Mike Starr	Frenchy	Robert "Frenchy" McMahon
Chuck Low	Morrie Kessler	Martin Krugman
Frank DiLeo	Tuddy Cicero	Vito "Tuddy" Vario
Johnny Williams	Johnny Roastbeef	Louis Cafora
Samuel L. Jackson	Parnell "Stacks" Edwards	Parnell Steven "Stacks" Edwards
Frank Adonis	Anthony Stabile	Anthony Stabile
Catherine Scorsese	Tommy DeVito's Mother	Thomas DeSimone's Grandmother
Gina Mastrogiacomo	Janice Rossi	Linda Coppociano
Debi Mazar	Sandy	Robin Cooperman
Margo Winkler	Belle Kessler	Fran Krugman
Welker White	Lois Byrd	Judy Wicks
Julie Garfield	Mickey Conway	Mickey Burke
Paul Herman	Dealer	Paul Mazzei
Detective Ed Deacy	Himself	Himself
Christopher Serrone	Henry Hill (Youth)	Henry Hill (Youth)
Charles Scorsese	Vinnie	Thomas Agro
Michael Vivalo	Nicky Eyes	Himself
Michael Imperioli	"Spider"	Michael "Spider" Gianco
Frank Pellegrino	Johnny Dio	Johnny Dio
Tony Ellis	Bridal Shop Owner	Jerome Asaro
Elizabeth Whitcraft	Tommy's Girlfriend	Theresa Ferrara
Illeana Douglas	Tommy's Other Girlfriend	Rosie
Anthony Powers	Jimmy Two-Times	Clyde Brooks
Assistant U.S. Attorney Ed McDonald	Himself	Himself
Tony Lip	Frankie The Wop	Francesco Manzo
Joseph Bono	Mikey Franzese	Michael Franzese
Kevin Corrigan	Michael Hill	Michael Hill