Getting Made (2004)
*** 1/2 (out of 4)
Extremely entertaining look at the making of GOODFELLAS, Martin Scorsese's 1990 masterpiece of life in the mob. Ray Liotta, Paul Sorvino, Nicholas Pileggi, Irwin Winkler, Lorraine Bracco, Henry Hill, Thelma Schoonmaker and Frank Vincent are all featured in new interviews while we get archival interviews with Scorsese, Robert DeNiro and Joe Pesci. The documentary does a very good job at letting the viewer know how the product came to be from the first time Scorsese heard of the story up to a bad preview screening where the film obviously rubbed people the wrong way. The film does a very good job at mixing the interviews to give you a complete idea of the making of the film. We get clips from the actual filming of the movie where we get to see Scorsese working and then we'll cut to an actor talking about what the director wanted and how he would get it. There's a very good sequence about the Tommy/'I'm a clown' sequence and you really get a great idea of how it was written, rehearsed and how it ended up on the screen. Liotta also gives a good idea of what his process was of getting into his role and Sorvino also talks about how he finally was able to get the look of a killer. The most interesting aspect of the film is the way it shows how involved Scorsese was to get his vision on the screen and this includes the music selections as well as the style of editing. Of course, it would have been nice with a new interview from Scorsese but it's interesting seeing his thoughts from 1990 and in the end this is a very entertaining piece that fans of the film will enjoy.
*** 1/2 (out of 4)
Extremely entertaining look at the making of GOODFELLAS, Martin Scorsese's 1990 masterpiece of life in the mob. Ray Liotta, Paul Sorvino, Nicholas Pileggi, Irwin Winkler, Lorraine Bracco, Henry Hill, Thelma Schoonmaker and Frank Vincent are all featured in new interviews while we get archival interviews with Scorsese, Robert DeNiro and Joe Pesci. The documentary does a very good job at letting the viewer know how the product came to be from the first time Scorsese heard of the story up to a bad preview screening where the film obviously rubbed people the wrong way. The film does a very good job at mixing the interviews to give you a complete idea of the making of the film. We get clips from the actual filming of the movie where we get to see Scorsese working and then we'll cut to an actor talking about what the director wanted and how he would get it. There's a very good sequence about the Tommy/'I'm a clown' sequence and you really get a great idea of how it was written, rehearsed and how it ended up on the screen. Liotta also gives a good idea of what his process was of getting into his role and Sorvino also talks about how he finally was able to get the look of a killer. The most interesting aspect of the film is the way it shows how involved Scorsese was to get his vision on the screen and this includes the music selections as well as the style of editing. Of course, it would have been nice with a new interview from Scorsese but it's interesting seeing his thoughts from 1990 and in the end this is a very entertaining piece that fans of the film will enjoy.