History YMMV / Goodfellas

** Johnny Roastbeef and Frankie Carbone deserve a mention due to their stupidity of immediately buying themselves expensive shit with their share of the Lufthansa loot, despite Jimmy ''explicitly telling them not to do so'' since it would draw attention from the cops. This is one of the reasons why he decides to get rid of them, so they essentially dug their own graves.

* GenreTurningPoint: As one of the defining films of the crime genre and most popular and influential movies ever made in general, ''[=GoodFellas=]'' is a truly {{Troperiffic}} work -- nearly every single trope associated with Mafia media is used, [[UrExample created]] or [[TropeCodifier codified]] at some point in the film. As for the storyline, the film certainly showed the crudest side of how lower-ranking mobsters operate, particularly associates, soldiers and captains. It also gave us a more complex look at how the American Mafia operated in the 70s and early 80s, when the mafia started to decline. In fact, this modern look of the American Mafia was key to the development of series such as ''Series/TheSopranos''.

* GenreTurningPoint: ''[=GoodFellas=]'' is easily one of the most innovative Mafia films of all time. The film certainly showed the crudest side of how lower-ranking mobsters operate, particularly associates, soldiers and captains. It also gave us a more complex look at how the American Mafia operated in the 70s and early 80s, when the mafia started to decline. In fact, this modern look of the American Mafia was key to the development of series such as ''Series/TheSopranos''.

* DracoInLeatherPants: Tommy, of all people, gets a lot of this, generally from young men. He's an utterly unrepentant, racist {{Jerkass}} who casually kills people just because they annoy him and delights in making his friends live in fear of his bad temper, but some people like him nevertheless, possibly because of the extent to which he enjoys being who he is. When people say that this film makes them want to be a gangster, it's often because they want to be somebody like Tommy, conveniently forgetting that his own assholish behaviour turns him into a liability to the mob and gets him killed in a deliberately humiliating manner (shot in the face so his mother couldn't give him an open casket funeral.)

* DarknessInducedAudienceApathy: Notoriously averted, and one of the most controversial things about the film. It's been praised as one of the more accurate mob movies ever made because, unlike ''Film/TheGodfather'', which was rather sentimental about the Mafia (or at least, Vito) as a force for order and honour in a corrupt world, there's very little honour in ''Goodfellas'': the highest-ranking gangster in the film, Paulie, is only a middle-ranking ''caporegime'' who doesn't hesitate to cut his ties with Henry when it looks like Henry may be a liability, rewarding him for a lifetime's service with a measly few hundred bucks. One of the main characters is a [[HairTriggerTemper violent]], [[{{sadist}} sadistic]] [[AxCrazy maniac]], another is a violent, greedy and increasingly paranoid scumbag, and the main POV character is an arsonist thug who cheats on his wife and deals hard drugs behind his boss's back. In a way, it ''should'' be a hellish, hard-to-watch story about violence, secrecy and betrayal. But people love the film, because it makes this life seem like great fun...at least, up to a point. And Henry never expresses regret for all the harm he's caused; at the end of the film, the only thing he regrets is that he couldn't go on living like he used to, able to take whatever he wanted, live however he wanted, and above all, get away with it.

* JerkAss: Paulie comes across as this when the bar owner comes to him pleading for help with Tommy. Paulie gives excuses for not being able to help that are ''extremely'' weak. Wadda ya want me to do, I can't control Tommy, I can't do nothin, I don't know nothin, etc. In reality, he ''can'' control Tommy. Tommy works for Jimmy and Jimmy works for Paulie. Jimmy isn't made, but he does work in Paulie's territory and kicks a percentage of his illegal gains up to Paulie. All it would take is a word to Jimmy to remind Tommy to pay his bill and tone it down. ''But getting control of the restaurant may have been Paulie's plan all along.'' The restaurant owner now has to both pay Paulie each week, and let his restaurant be used as a front for all sorts of illegal activity, and when it's over the place is burned down for insurance money. You better believe Paulie got a cut of that insurance money. Paulie probably instructed Tommy to run up a huge bill and be an asshole to the staff, and told Henry to be friendly and open and available to the owner, so that the owner would come to him sooner or later. The owner certainly was aware he couldn't go to the police, as that would have been a death sentence.

** Then there’s the kids, helplessly watching their parents madness. And the baby cocaine mule, who’s too young to even know what’s happening.

** Johnny Roastbeef and Frankie Carbone deserve a mention due to their stupidity of immidiately buying themselves expensive shit with their share of the Lufthansa loot, despite Jimmy ''explicitly telling them not to do so'' since it would draw attention from the cops. This is one of the reasons why he decides to get rid of them, so they essentially dug their own graves.

* TheWoobie: She may be a stereotypical overbearing JewishMother but Karen's mother is completely right about Henry, and in the end she loses her daughter to the Witness Protection Program with no promises of ever seeing her again.

** Tommy's mother. Helps that she's played by Martin Scorsese's mother.

** Isaiah Whitlock, Jr. (Senator Clay Davis from ''Series/TheWire'') makes a small role as the doctor treating Henry's brother who notices Henry's haggard appearance.

** This wouldn't be the last time Lorraine Bracco and Michael Imperioli were involved in a [[Series/TheSopranos highly acclaimed gangster story]].

* OneSceneWonder: Jimmy Two-Times. He only had one line, but everyone remembers it.
-->'''Jimmy Two-Times:''' I'm gonna go get the papers, get the papers.

** Jimmy Conway as well, but rather is to be played by Creator/RobertDeNiro, who always wears a growing fanbase that appears as a villain.

** For some (most notably, Creator/RogerEbert [[Series/AtTheMovies and]] Creator/GeneSiskel), the loss for Best Director was particularly galling. Kevin Costner was already listed as a co-producer for ''Dances With Wolves'' (the heavy frontrunner for Best Picture), so it seemed redundant for the Academy to honor him again as a Director over Marty, especially given how much the latter's direction was specifically praised and analyzed. To make matters worse, ''Wolves'' was Costner's film debut, and many already thought Scorsese was due for recognition after losing out for ''Film/RagingBull'' against Creator/RobertRedford and ''Ordinary People'' (coincidently enough, Redford had beaten Marty for a directorial debut, also).

** Go to the comment section on any Website/YouTube video with either Joe Pesci or Frank Vincent in it and there's a good chance it'll be filled with 'shinebox' jokes.

** Was Jimmy sending Karen to her death or where there really some stolen Dior dresses for her to choose from? Or was Jimmy going through a SanitySlippage and genuinely thought there were dresses there?

** Go to the comment section on any YouTube video with either Joe Pesci or Frank Vincent in it and there's a good chance it'll be filled with 'shinebox' jokes.

** Was Jimmy sending Karen to her death or where there really some stolen Dior dresses for her to choose from?

* AwardSnub: ''[=GoodFellas=]'', Creator/MartinScorsese, and Creator/LorraineBracco lost to ''Film/DancesWithWolves'', Creator/KevinCostner, and Creator/WhoopiGoldberg for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Supporting Actress, respectively. In hindsight, ''[=GoodFellas=]'' is considered Scorsese's greatest film. On the other hand, Joe Pesci not only got a fully deserved Oscar for Best Supporting, he didn't even expect to win and gave one of the shortest and most modest speeches in Academy history ("It's my privilege. Thank you.")

** For some (most notably, Creator/RogerEbert [[Series/AtTheMovies and]] Creator/GeneSiskel), the loss for Best Director was particularly galling. Kevin Costner was already listed as a co-producer for ''Dances With Wolves'' (the heavy frontrunner for Best Picture), so it seemed redundant for the Academy to honor him again as a Director over Marty, especially given how much the latter's direction was specifically praised and analyzed. To make matters worse, ''Wolves'' was Costner's film debut, and many already thought Scorsese was due for recognition after losing out for ''Film/RagingBull'' against Robert Redford and ''Ordinary People'' (coincidently enough, Redford had beaten Marty for a directorial debut, also).

** The EpicTrackingShot of Henry and Karen breaking the line at a restaurant and entering through the kitchen.

** The bodies from [[spoiler:the Lufthansa heist]] being found, to the tune of "Layla" by Derek and the Dominos.

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: Was Henry's drug mule just that stupid to make a phone call from within the house, despite repeated instructions not to? Or was she an informant?

** Michael Imperioli, best known as Christopher from ''Series/TheSopranos'', has one of his first roles as the waiter who runs afoul of Tommy. Plus, Lorraine Bracco. ''Plus'' plus, Tony "Paulie Walnuts" Sirico as one of Paulie Cicero's henchmen in the 1955 scenes. ''Plus plus'' plus, Tony "Larry Boy Barese" Darrow as the hangout owner who complained to Paul about Tommy.

** Michael Imperioli, best known as Christopher from ''Series/TheSopranos'', has one of his first roles as the waiter who runs afoul of Tommy. Plus, Lorraine Bracco. ''Plus'' plus, Tony "Paulie Walnuts" Sirico as one of Paulie Cicero's henchmen in the 1955 scenes.