Great Scene: “Goodfellas”
“Funny how? What’s funny about it?”
“Funny how? What’s funny about it?”
It’s one of the most memorable scenes from the 1990 mob movie Goodfellas, screenplay by Nicholas Pileggi and Martin Scorsese, book by Pileggi. What’s even more remarkable about the scene is it is largely improvised by actor Joe Pesci. Here’s a synopsis of the plot per IMDb:
Henry Hill is a small time gangster, who takes part in a robbery with Jimmy Conway and Tommy De Vito, two other gangsters who have set their sights a bit higher. His two partners kill off everyone else involved in the robbery, and slowly start to climb up through the hierarchy of the Mob. Henry, however, is badly affected by his partners success, but will he stoop low enough to bring about the downfall of Jimmy and Tommy?
Here is a transcript of the dialogue:
Here’s the scene in the movie:
It may be improvised, but the scene has a point, indicated by the very last lines: “I wonder about you sometimes, Henry. You may fold under questioning.” It not only creates additional tension per Henry’s character — he knows how trigger-happy Tommy is and doesn’t want Tommy turning against him — it also is a portent of things to come: Henry eventually cuts a deal to testify against his cronies, including Tommy, in exchange for entering the federal witness protection program.
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