Goodfellas

Scorcese's brilliant account of the life of Henry Hill, the one-time mobster whose climb up the underworld ladder was cut short by cocaine addiction and bad decisions. Heavily Oscar nominated, with Pesci's manic performance winning!

Woody Allen talks about Goodfellas and how great of a film it was. Courtesy of AFI.

Goodfellas starring Frank Sivero, Joe Pesci, Lorraine Bracco, Paul Sorvino, Ray Liotta, Robert DeNiro

The story details the rise and fall of Hill, a half-Irish, half-Sicilian New York kid who grows up idolizing the 'wise guys' in his impoverished Brooklyn neighborhood. He begins hanging around the mobsters, running errands and doing odd jobs until he gains the notice of local chieftain Paulie Cicero, who takes him in as a surrogate son. As he reaches his teens, Hill is inducted into the world of petty crime, where he distinguishes himself as a 'stand-up guy' by choosing jail time over ratting on his accomplices. From that moment on, he is a part of the family. Along with his psychotic partner Tommy, he rises through the ranks to become Paulie's lieutenant; however, he quickly learns that, like his mentor Jimmy, his ethnicity prevents him from ever becoming a 'made guy,' an actual member of the crime family. Soon he finds himself the target of both the feds and the mobsters, who feel that he has become a threat to their security with his reckless dealings.

Drama of a half-Irish, half-Sicilian Brooklyn boy initiated into a neighborhood mob in his youth, and the struggles he encounters with the gang through the next 25 years.