This Review Reveals Minor Details About the Plot.
Based On a True Story
Plot Overview
The criminals in this picture conform to a description I once read in a Steve Shagan novel:
“You never really understood our organization. We were born out of centuries of rape. Sicily was Europe's whore. Our identity was taken from us, along with our work and our hope. The Mafia was not a criminal organization. It was a people's revolution against a feudal system. We were truly the Honored Society. We extended our protection to the poor, and in return for loyalty we defended our people against all outside enemies.” (305)
The mob in 1955 Brooklyn was taking tribute from businesses in exchange for protection (“All they got from Paulie was protection from other guys looking to rip them off.”)
They had an outlet at a
cab stand across the street from pre-teen Henry Hill who ran
errands for them.
His dad at
first approved of Henry's new job until he found out it was mob
related and then he beat him, but it was still small potatoes. The
mob helped him skip school. The cops and others were on the take.
As
Henry (Ray Liotta) grew he was given more responsibility
until he found himself pinched for hawking black market
cigarettes. When he didn't squeal on anybody, he obtained
favor with local capo Paulie Cicero (Paul Sorvino) and his right
hand man Jimmy Conway (Robert De Niro.) Henry's friend in the
business Tommy DeVito (Joe Pesci) set him up on a blind date with
one Karen Hill (Lorraine Bracco) who found him attractive &
interesting and his occupation a turn-on. They get married and have
Mafia munchkins. She finds gang molls revolting.
Unfortunately, a man they unnecessarily roughed up had
a sister who was a typist for the FBI, and the feds came down on them big
time. Paulie gets out on parole from a one year stint for contempt,
so he can't associate with Henry who is on early release with a job
Paulie got him. Philandering Henry goes private but bites off
more than he can chew and finds himself in deep doo-doo. He
escapes to the Witness Protection Program where he as “an
average nobody … gets to live the rest of my life like a
schnook.”
Ideology
There's a life lesson here somewhere. (Prov. 30:7) “Two things have I required of thee; deny me them not before I die:” having to do with being satisfied with a middle road while resisting the bogus appeal of a life of crime.
(Prov.
30:8-9) “Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me
neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me:
Lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the LORD? or lest I
be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain.”
Henry eschewed the life of “those goody-good people who
worked shitty jobs for bum paychecks and took the subway to
work every day, and worried about their bills.” Yet that's a
workable life.
Henry with his big scores conveniently forgot God the ultimate
Provider. When meeting his Jewish mother-in-law-to-be he was careful to
hide his Christian roots (“We have to cover that cross.”)
When young Henry's school grades were
suffering, his father got on his case, “You want to grow up
to be a bum?” Tommy was very insecure about his shoe shine
start (“They used to call him Spitshine Tommy.”)
In a crowd all named after saints—Peter, Paul,
Marie—doubting Thomas needed tangible proof he belonged.
Production Values
“” (1990) was based on Nicholas Pileggi's book, Wiseguy. It was adeptly directed by Martin Scorsese who'd adapted it for screen. It stars Robert De Niro, Ray Liotta, Joe Pesci, and Mark Jacobs. These are top actors doing a superlative job.
It's rated R—no surprise. It was narrated in turn by the two leads showing how they came to be in the life and with each other. It's a pseudo-documentary without the boredom factor. Gangstas rule! until their movie time runs out in 2 hours, 25 minutes.
Review Conclusion w/a Christian's Recommendation
For a
documentary of legacy Catholics, religion is very much in the
background. Even the mixed celebration (“Merry
Christmas”) of two concurrent holidays
(“Happy Hanukkah”) is quickly glossed over.
Tommy's mother (Catherine Scorsese) displays her painting of two
dogs, pointing in different directions! They're pack animals, not
cats, and the submissive one would align its posture with the
dominant. Likewise, Tommy to his grief had trouble with the
pecking order of the goodfellows. At one point he tells his
mother, “Don't paint any more religious pictures.” One
would think that a married couple of different religions would sort
out which one to teach their kids. Just saying.
Since this is a true-to-life depiction of organized crime, it undoubtedly conforms to other like offerings. If that's your thing, here's another. Enjoy!
Movie Ratings
Action factor: Well done action flick. Suitability For Children: Not Suitable for Children of Any Age. Special effects: Average special effects. Video Occasion: Fit For a Friday Evening. Suspense: A few suspenseful moments. Overall movie rating: Four and a half stars out of five.
Works Cited
Scripture quoted from the King James Version. Pub. 1611, rev. 1769. Software.
Shagan, Steve. The Circle. Copyright © 1982 by Cirandinha Productions, Inc. New York: William Morrow and Co., 1982. Print.
bibles.n7nz.org