As two undeniable classics of the gangster genre, Goodfellas and The Godfather share a sizable portion of DNA. Both are sweeping, urban epics charting the rise and fall of a mafia empire, told through the eyes of an ambitious up-and-comer.
Coppola and Scorsese cake their respective offerings in a layer of illicit grime that makes for visceral, yet deeply compelling, viewing, whether it’s the story of Henry Hill or the misadventures of the Corleone family. Robert De Niro, meanwhile, plays integral roles in both, first as The Godfather Part II‘s younger Vito, then as Goodfellas‘ Jimmy Conway.
Despite their many similarities, however, Goodfellas and The Godfather are two very different flavors of gangster movie ice cream. Leaning into its real-life inspiration, Scorsese’s film has a colder atmosphere compared to The Godfather‘s noir-ish glow. Goodfellas also delves deeper into themes of substance abuse and paranoia, seeking to remove the glamorous fallacy of what it means to become a “wiseguy.”
In search of that fidelity, Goodfellas contains one scene in particular that pulls Martin Scorsese’s movie far away from The Godfather, and simultaneously exposes what might be considered the biggest flaw of Coppola’s legendary magnum opus.
Tommy Killing Spider Exposes The Godfather’s More Noble View Of Gangsters
That Wasn’t Very Funny…
That scene is Joe Pesci’s Tommy DeVito ruthlessly gunning down young mafia bartender Spider in retaliation for a simple “go f**k yourself.” Goodfellas plays Spider’s sad demise as a moment of utter pettiness on Tommy’s part. Pesci’s loose cannon shoots a defenseless young boy over a simple bruised ego, leaving Henry and Jimmy aghast.
Tommy’s H๏τ-headed nature is, of course, a running through-line of Goodfellas, with the definitely-not-funny hoodlum unleashing his temper upon Billy Batts, as well as teasing Henry with the memorable “funny how?” routine. Nevertheless, it is Spider’s death that truly paints Tommy – one of Goodfellas‘ central three protagonists – as a fragile soul devoid of reason or honor.
Even The Godfather‘s resident H๏τhead, Sonny, never goes so far as to shoot an innocent youngster because of a harmless jibe.
This couldn’t be further from how The Godfather portrays its own protagonists – the Corleone family. The main players – Vito, Michael, and Sonny – are responsible for plenty of deaths across Francis Ford Coppola and Mario Puzo’s decade-spanning saga, but these are almost always presented with some semblance of nobility.
Whether it be the treacherous Sollozzo, the turncoat Paulie, the abusive Carlo Rizzi, or the villainous Don Fanucci, the Corleone big sH๏τs invariably ᴀssᴀssinate characters that The Godfather encourages audiences to think “had it coming.” These victims are hardened criminals, usually demonstrably worse than the Corleones themselves.
Even The Godfather‘s resident H๏τhead, Sonny, never goes so far as to shoot an innocent youngster because of a harmless jibe. One could say that where Goodfellas attempts to depict the mafia warts-and-all, The Godfather allows its central characters to retain a thin shroud of heroism – one of the few things Coppola’s masterpiece could be criticized for.
That is not to say the Corleones never kill a person because their egos get bruised, of course. Michael includes Moe Greene on his christening day wishlist partly because the casino tycoon publicly manhandles Fredo – a ballsy insult to the Corleone name. The Godfather does, however, go to great efforts to make Moe Greene utterly detestable in the audience’s eyes, siphoning away any possibly sympathy. Poor Spider, he is not.
The closest The Godfather comes to Goodfellas‘ mafiosa pettiness is Vincent’s feud with Joey Zasa in Part III. Even then, Coppola introduces this as a generational divide, with Michael left exasperated by the new era’s inability to not take things so personal.
How The Godfather Avoids Completely Glamorizing The Gangster Lifestyle
It’s Not All Sunshine & Cannoli
The Godfather certainly puts an attractive sheen on the gangster life, and yet anyone who emerges from the trilogy wanting to quit their job and become a ʙuттon man for the local mob obviously hasn’t been paying attention. While not as pronounced as in Goodfellas, The Godfather does hide a murky layer of darkness beneath the surface of the Corleone family.
The real cautionary tale of Michael’s story comes in The Godfather Part III.
For starters, the delicate matter of how the Corleones make their money is seldom addressed. Reading between the lines of the family’s various enterprises, however, it can be ᴀssumed that plenty of innocent civilians have found themselves on the wrong end of the Corleones’ wrath when payment ᴅᴇᴀᴅlines weren’t met.
These are not simple olive oil merchants. If Johnny Fontaine’s band leader had not succumbed to Luca Brasi’s threat, maybe his brains really would have been splattered all over that fateful contract. And while The Godfather never draws attention to it, the climactic bloodbath clearly shows civilians getting caught in the crossfire of Michael taking out New York’s Five Families.
The Godfather never reveals whether Luca Brasi really would have pulled the trigger, or whether the threat was just an intimidation tactic.
While Goodfellas brings the darkness of its leading gangsters into the open, then, The Godfather alludes toward it more gently. The real cautionary tale of Michael’s story then comes in The Godfather Part III, as the mastermind of a criminal empire dies miserable and alone, having sacrificed love and family for power and money.
