When Martin Scorsese's GOODFELLAS came out in 1990, those who weren't turned off by its violence and profanity praised it as ranking with his best works like TAXI DRIVER and RAGING BULL. Also mentioned was THE GODFATHER, since Scorsese's epic could be seen as a rebuke to the romanticized world of Coppola's masterpiece. One film which didn't get mentioned a lot, surprisingly enough, was MEAN STREETS, the 1973 film which put Scorsese on the map. Like GOODFELLAS, MEAN STREETS was a gangster film, benefitting from Scorsese's knowledge of the neighborhood where he grew up (though, since he was sickly, he always observed it from a distance), made with technical brilliance, and filled with a terrific soundtrack. While GOODFELLAS is a terrific film, it still feels, in some way, like a shadow of MEAN STREETS.
Part of that, of course, may just be the passing of time. MEAN STREETS, which Scorsese said was partly inspired by the urging of one of his idols, John Cassavetes, to make something that felt personal to him, is only his third feature, and unquestionably the work of a young filmmaker. It's alive, frenetic, and grabs you because of that. Of course, it's also well crafted, but you don't remember that as much as the energy which drives it. GOODFELLAS, on the other hand, is Scorsese's 12th feature, and he's no longer the young kid (he was 47 at the time the film was released). So naturally, the craft is going to be more front and center than in the earlier film, and just as naturally, that's going to seem a bit disappointing.
The other part is in the nature of GOODFELLAS' story. We all know it's adapted from Nicolas Pileggi's terrific book Wiseguy, and tells the tale of Henry Hill (Ray Liotta) and his thirty years in the Mafia, from boyhood to adult, until he was arrested in the early 80's, joined the Witness Protection Program, and ratted on his old colleagues. Since Henry wasn't completely Italian, he was never able to become a "goodfella," or "wiseguy" (a full-fledged member of the mob). At best, he could only become what Pileggi termed a "mechanic" - someone who participated in the day-to-day activities of the mob, but was always left out of the decision-making. Yet that insider's view is part of what makes the book so good; we really get the sense of being on the inside. And unlike other tales by ex-mobsters, which seem to glamorize their own exploits while trying to minimize their importance (so they can't be made accountable for them), Pileggi and Hill give this a no-nonsense tone, and give this as little bull as possible. They already know we as a country have always been fascinated by bad guys of any stripe, so there's no need to embellish the tale.
