The true story of Henry Hill, a half-Irish, half-Sicilian Brooklyn kid who is adopted by neighbourhood gangsters at an early age and climbs the ranks of a Mafia family under the guidance of Jimmy Conway.
Direction
Scorsese's tracking shots and freeze frames invented modern cool.
Acting
Pesci's Tommy is volcanic; Liotta's laugh is haunted.
Editing
Thelma Schoonmaker's coke-fueled montages are legendary.
Director
Martin Scorsese
Robert De Niro
James Conway
Ray Liotta
Henry Hill
Joe Pesci
Tommy DeVito
Lorraine Bracco
Karen Hill
Paul Sorvino
Paul Cicero
Frank Sivero
Frankie Carbone
Tony Darrow
Sonny Bunz
Mike Starr
Frenchy
Frank Vincent
Billy Batts
Chuck Low
Morris Kessler
Frank DiLeo
Tuddy Cicero
Henny Youngman
Henny Youngman
Gina Mastrogiacomo
Janice Rossi
Catherine Scorsese
Tommy's Mother
Charles Scorsese
Vinnie
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The 'funny how?' scene was based on an actual encounter Joe Pesci had with a mobster; Scorsese let the actors improvise and kept the genuine tension.
GoodFellas killed the romantic Godfather myth—after 1990, mob movies couldn't glamour without the gutter, and every crime show from The Sopranos to Breaking Bad owes it a debt.
US
