GoodFellas

10* * “As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a gangster.” Goodfellas is glamorous, bold, and thrilling. It’s a story of friendship, greed, betrayal, and loyalty in the gutter. It coats crime with neon and charm, crooks with a magical thrill that captivates you, and lulls you into a sense of normalcy. You feel the vibrant atmosphere of a table of criminals, the jokes, the games, the lifestyle.  Henry dredges his narration in excitement and a sense of camaraderie that washes away your natural perception of crime. Crime carries style, and there’s a certain magnetism to the mob.  The movie eventually turns glamour into crisis, and loyalty into betrayal for sustainability. Friendships turned to a battle to survive, and bridges exploded instead of burnt. Everything goes off with a bang, and enough to pull the audience out of its temporary perception of the characters and into reality. These are crooks, these are thieves, these are murderers.  When forced to turn, they will turn, when option is turned into requirement, and everything is dire, guns will be pointed, circles will crumble, and bridges will fall in fiery fashion.