Goodfellas: 10 Questions We Are Still Asking

Martin Scorsese’s quintessential gangster film Goodfellas is a timeless classic, and here are 10 questions we’re still pondering after thirty years.

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Goodfellas, the iconic mob movie by Martin Scorsese, follows the rise and fall of a man who joined the mob as a young boy. Enticed by the glory, power and community, he thrives in the mob for most of his life—but things don’t work out exactly as he hoped.

Goodfellas features many noteworthy performances and beautiful lines—it’s a classic for a reason. Still, there are definitely some questions we are left asking after the credits are rolling.

10 Why Weren’t Henry And Jimmy Killed?

Tommy is taken aside and killed by the upper-tier members of the mob. This is because he is a hot-headed, unpredictable member, but mostly because he killed one of the untouchable members. If you kill an untouchable, you are killed. But, if the mob found out about this, they most likely also found out that Jimmy and Henry aided Tommy in getting rid of the body and covering up for Tommy. So, why weren’t they killed, as well?

9 Where Did Henry’s Parents Go?

We see Henry’s parents at the start of the film, but, after that, they become quite scarce. Later on, we are introduced to an older version of his brother, whom he tasks with helping him make a sauce for a family dinner… but we don’t see his parents there, nor is it ever discussed what they think about his life in the mob, or if they even know. When Henry and his wife Karen and their kids have to go into witness protection in the end, she is worried about her parents, but he doesn’t even mention his.

8 Did Henry Love Karen In The End, Or Was He Just Using Her?

As soon as they’ve been married a while Henry goes off with another woman, buys her an apartment and spends most of his time there. Eventually, Henry is back in jail again and in need of Karen’s help to run his drug business.

She insists that she won’t help him unless she never hears the name of his mistress again. When he gets out of jail Henry returns to Karen, so it’s assumed they might be strong now. But then, he takes on another lover…supposedly using her to help move cocaine. It’s never clear if he is really devoted to Karen.

7 Why Did Jimmy Mourn Tommy, But Plan To Kill Henry?

The lead-up to Tommy’s death was all a ruse. The word was that Tommy was being “made,” meaning he was going to become an untouchable upper-member of the mob. This was a big deal to Jimmy, because Jimmy, Henry, and Tommy were all only half Italian, and, to be made, you had to be full Italian.

Jimmy was greatly proud of Tommy. On the day he finds out it was all a trick to get Tommy cornered for the bosses to kill, Jimmy is deeply upset. But then later in the film, he schemes to murder Henry, seemingly remorseless.

6 Was Prison Really So Easy For The Mob?

During Henry’s first stint in prison, we get a flash into what life is like for the mob there. Henry explains that they basically run the place, and we watch them prepare delicious meals for themselves while they complain of incompetent guards they need to sort out. Their living quarters are like a small apartment–grubby, yes, but still quite cozy for prison. Is this realistic?

5 Why Didn’t Karen Leave Henry?

Henry is terrible to Karen. She acknowledges it herself, too, expressing her fury at his neglect. Henry spends most of his time with his mistress in the apartment he bought for her. When Karen holds a gun to him in a desperate attempt to get him to tell her the truth about how he feels, he convinces her he loves her most, but then beats her when he gets the gun out of her hands. It’s implied that mob bosses’ wives are able to divorce their husbands, but Karen doesn’t.

4 Why Does Tommy Get Away With So Much?

Tommy’s actions do eventually catch up to him, but it takes a very long time. He abuses everyone around him, and all it takes is nudging him the wrong way. This behavior is highly tolerated by the rest of his friends, although it’s clear all through the movie that Henry is uncomfortable with killing people.

There is one point where Jimmy tells Tommy off for killing a waiter simply because the waiter talked back to him after Tommy had shot him in the foot already. But mostly, Tommy is allowed to run around and make life harder for the mob.

3 Why Do The Mob Wives Befriend Henry’s Mistress?

A scene shows Henry hosting what appears to be a house-warming party at the new apartment he has bought for his mistress. It’s shocking to see that the people who attend the party are people who were also at Henry and Karen’s wedding. This dissolves the feeling of familial loyalty associated with the mob at the beginning of the film.

2 Where Are Henry And Karen’s Daughters?

At the end of the film, Karen proclaims that their daughters are “old enough to read the papers” now. But where are the daughters? Henry has just gotten out of jail for the second time, and he and Karen are hysterically panicking about how they will make a living, curling up in a ball in the corner of the apartment and crying to each other. But the kids are conveniently never there when tragedy strikes.

1 Does Henry Regret His Mob Life?

What drove Henry to join the mob in the first place was the sense of family he felt with them. But the longer he is with them, the more the seemingly solid foundation he thought he had invested in crumbles beneath his feet.

After a lifetime of service, Paulie turns Henry away. Jimmy, one of his closest friends, tries to kill him out of sheer paranoia. In the end, Henry points them both out in court, ensuring his own safety in witness protection. So, does he regret his life choices, or does he feel guilty about what he has to do to survive?

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/goodfellas-remaining-questions/