History YMMV / Goodfellas

** " As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a gangster ".

* DoNotDoThisCoolThing: Despite the fact that the movie [[{{Deconstruction}} deconstructs]] many standard gangster film tropes and has something of a DownerEnding, it's still considered one of the coolest depictions of the Mafia ever put on film - by members of the Mafia themselves, even. The gangster that [=DeNiro=]'s character was based on was reportedly ''thrilled'' such a great actor was portraying him, and kept trying to get in touch with [=DeNiro=] ''from prison'' to give him pointers. Similarly, the real Henry Hill wrecked his witness protection because he couldn't resist bragging about the movie. (Not that anyone cared to kill him at that point.) Yet by the end of the movie almost the entire extended cast is either in prison, witness protection, or dead- almost universally via brutal murder, to say nothing of all the domestic abuse, paranoia, treachery, drug addiction, police investigations and violence that the characters end up going through. [[MexicansLoveSpeedyGonzales It is still loved by gangsters and wannabe gangsters]].

* WheelchairWoobie: Henry's brother Michael is wheelchair bound. It's never explained in the film -- he suffers from spina befida.

** In the shoeshine box scene, [[Creator/RobertDeniro Jimmy Conway]] says "There's only one [[Film/TheIrishman Irishman]] here!".

* HarsherInHindsight: During the parts focusing on Henry's childhood, it's easy to think that Henry was destined to be a troublemaker when he was young. However, in real life, Henry suffered from a number of learning disabilities that had remained undiagnosed at the time. Since his teachers had no concept of conditions such as Dyslexia in the 1950s, they just assumed Henry wasn't interested in school and labelled him a failure. In fact, Henry himself stated that he never learned the alphabet until he was 20. Henry's inability to fit in at school was one of the primary factors leading him into joining the mob.

** For some (most notably, Creator/RogerEbert [[Series/SiskelAndEbert 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).

*** Given she was shown arrested along with the rest of them, it looks like she really was just that stupid. Although that also raises the legitimate question of [[HorribleJudgeOfCharacter why Henry was trusting her with critical information and tasks anyway.]]

*** [[BadLiar Jimmy's entire attitude says that she was going to get killed, from not actually walking with her to show her the alleged dresses, to his patronizing tone, to his exaggerated, fake smile.]]

*** Given she was shown arrested along with the rest of them, [[TooDumbToLive it looks like she really was just that stupid.]] Although that also raises the legitimate question of [[HorribleJudgeOfCharacter why Henry was trusting her with critical information and tasks anyway.]]

** "Funny like I'm a clown, I amuse you? I make you laugh...I'm here to fuckin' amuse you? What do you mean funny, funny how? How the fuck am I funny? What the fuck is so funny about me?".

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: We never find out what happened to Henry’s father and other than a throwaway line on the day Henry gets busted there’s no mention of his mother either. This is likely deliberate as other than a quick photo at their wedding his parents are not seen again and the wedding serves as a somewhat symbolic transition to his new “family”. However it is clearly shown that he remains close to his younger brother Michael (the one in a wheelchair).

* 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 of 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''.

*** Although, to be fair, some people don't seem to notice that ''The Godfather Part II'' shows the ugliest side of the classic Mafia (which was largely intentional); Furthermore, ''The Godfather'' trilogy doesn't focus on lower-ranking mobsters like [=GoodFellas=], but rather on the top level of the Mafia and where the true power of the organization is concentrated.

*** Given she was shown arrested along with the rest of them, [[TooDumbToLive it looks like she really was just that stupid.]] Although that also raises the legitimate question of [[HorribleJudgeOfCharacter Henry was trusting her with critical information and tasks anyway.]]

** Did the Lufthansa Heist crew get whacked out of paranoia, or was Jimmy always planning on killing them? Stacks, Johnny Roastbeef and Frank Carbone’s murders can be somewhat justified as they didn’t do what Jimmy told them to do, but Frenchy is also whacked with no apparent grievance, and Maury is whacked essentially for being annoying. Henry’s narration that Jimmy “loved to steal” and felt “[the Lufthansa] money was his” which suggests the murders were due to the character’s immorality rather than paranoia.

* AdaptationDisplacement: Partly because the movie's title was changed to avoid confusion with [[Series/{{Wiseguys}} the TV series of the same name]], a lot of people don't realize it's based on a book.

* AdaptationDisplacement: Partly because the movie's title was changed to avoid confusion with the TV series of the same name, a lot of people don't realize it's based on a book.

** When Paulie is being arrested, one of his guys yells, "Why don't you go to Wall Street, get some ''real'' criminals. Cut to 20 years later and Scorsese makes ''Film/TheWolfOfWallStreet'', the SpiritualSuccessor to both this movie and ''Casino'' and is pretty up front about how Wall Street brokers are just as corrupt as gangsters.

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

** The scene where Tommy, Jimmy, Henry, stop over at Tommy's House and have dinner with his kindly mother (played by Martin Scorsese's mom Catherine, in a scene-stealing turn), and simply shoot the breeze in the middle of their hit of Batts (who is trapped in the trunk during the entire detour).

* DoNotDoThisCoolThing: Despite the fact that the movie [[{{Deconstruction}} deconstructs]] many standard gangster film tropes and has something of a DownerEnding, it's still considered one of the coolest depictions of the Mafia ever put on film - by members of the Mafia themselves, even. The gangster that [=DeNiro=]'s character was based on was reportedly ''thrilled'' such a great actor was portraying him, and kept trying to get in touch with [=DeNiro=] ''from prison'' to give him pointers. Similarly, the real Henry Hill wrecked his witness protection because he couldn't resist bragging about the movie. (Not that anyone cared to kill him at that point.) Yet by the end of the movie almost the entire extended cast is either in prison, witness protection, or dead- almost universally via brutal murder, to say nothing of all the domestic abuse, paranoia, treachery, drug addiction, police investigations and violence that the characters end up going through. It is still loved by gangsters and wannabe gangsters.

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: Was Henry's drug mule just that stupid to make a phone call from within the house, despite repeated instructions not to? Did she really need to get her lucky hat right at the last minute? Or was she an informant?

* HilariousInHindsight: And to think, this won't be the [[VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoViceCity last time]] Creator/RayLiotta gets involved with a mob...
** Henry Hill, a short form of which is [[WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill Hank Hill.]]

** 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 complains to Paulie about Tommy.

** Tommy ends up [[spoiler:being murdered]] by someone named Vinnie. [[Film/MyCousinVinny Fast forward two years later]] and Creator/JoePesci plays a character named Vinny who is called to investigate a murder.
** Robert De Niro plays Jimmy "The Gent" Conway, known by some as "The Irishman". 29 years later De Niro, Pesci, and Scorsese once again collaborated on a movie where De Niro plays a gangster titled ''Film/TheIrishman''.

** Interestingly, [[AxCrazy Tommy [=DeVito=]]] was incredibly memorable in this film. Of course, Creator/JoePesci's great performance earned him a well-deserved Oscar.

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

** Henry's exposition about his drug mule/babysitter Lois; she is insistently told to leave the house in order to make a drug related phone call. ''And what does she do? She phones from the house''. The narcs of course are wiretapping everything. Bitterly lampshaded in-universe by Henry.
--->'''Henry:''' So, what does she do after she hangs up with me? After everything I had told her? After all her yeah, yeah, yeah, bullshit? She picks up the phone and calls from the house. Now, if anybody was listening, they'd know everything. They'd know that a package was leaving from my house and they'd even have the time and the flight number. Thanks to her.

** 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. However, it must be known that at that point, everyone was going to be killed. As Henry stated, that money was ''his''. He would kick up a share to Paulie, but he didn't want to share the loot without anyone else.