Goodfellas (2004, DVD)

While some people call Goodfellas the greatest mobster movie of all time very rarely do you hear them talk about the plot. When you boil it down there is a huge jump in them from Henry Hill's youth to his adult life of crime. It also jumped too far into the future for me when Ray Liotta's character is bending over a table snorting coke. Other than that there are too many mistakes in filming. Don't believe me? Pull out your copy of Goodfellas and fast forward to the scene where Henry Hill is in prison and his wife is visiting with the kids and she makes a scene about Janis visiting. Look closely while the little girl is sitting on Liotta's lap. There are building blocks stacked up in front of her but when the camera cuts to his wife the blocks are gone. This doesn't happen once, but several times. All this means to me is that the production and editing staff didn't take the time to refine the film. To me that is an insult, as if I am not worth their time to make sure the film is as close to perfect as possible. If I am buying a ticket to a movie and paying upwards of $8.00 then I expect to be entertained and amused, not sit there and spot obvious errors in editing.
The cast is essentially perfect. Each of them pull off their character with utmost conviction.
Unlike other mobster movies this is based on 90% fact. If you like the movie there are several books available regarding the real Henry Hill. You might even be interested in seeing Donny Brasco. It is a long movie but depicted the flip side of the Mafia - from an undercover cops point of view.
If you pay attention you'll also see a few cameo's. Most people forget about Samuel L Jackson who plays Stacks Edward's (the bumbling get away guy who gets 'whacked'). I won't spoil it for you and list all the cameos but pay attention to the people at the restaurants. You might just see a few real wiseguys there.
This movie could appeal to most age ranges (over 18). The amount of swearing is typical of most mobster movies. I think it would be a bigger hit with men rather than women due to the language.
Goodfellas is coming up on it's 10 year anniversary which will most likely prompt an anniversary re-release. It might be interesting to see if they release it with some new footage.
Make some pasta, grab the remote and sink into 2 plus hours of pure east coast mobster delight.