I live my life according to one simple rule: when eating Cinnamon Toast Crunch, you absolutely must have the milk in a separate drinking glass. For whatever reason, the firmness of CTC collapses under the shared occupancy with milk when in a bowl quicker than Amber Heard’s credibility under cross examination. By following this process, you get a crunchy spoonful of CTC and then a swig of ice-cold milk meeting together to electrify taste bud bliss to life like a Frankenstein-like monster of deliciousness.
Come to think of it, I have one other rule. Regardless what I’m doing, what’s going on, what obligations I owe or what responsibilities loom, if “Goodfellas” is on, it doesn’t matter…ten minutes in, the halfway point or when Jimmy Conway tries giving Karen Hill “those dresses,” I am dropping everything to watch it. It’s more than a movie; it’s teleportation into a different life and time that you absolutely must sacrifice whatever monotony you may have going on in your real life for just a taste. And a huge reason for that is Ray Liotta’s career-defining performance as gangster Henry Hill.
Ray Liotta—an Eclectic Actor with Much More to Give
The unexpected and untimely passing of Ray Liotta on Wednesday, May 26th rocked the entertainment industry to its core. At just 67 years old, you can’t help but think he had much more to give. Not only in the sense of gifting us with more wild and exciting performances such as his roles in “Narc,” “Something Wild” or “Cop Land;” but also, in that at a time in life when a lot of people are just settling into their golden years, he leaves behind a fiancée and daughter. It’s heartbreaking. On so many levels.
What separated Ray Liotta from other actors of his generation was his sheer everyman relatability. In “Field of Dreams,” ‘Shoeless’ Joe Jackson comes across as a tragic figure robbed of his true joy in life. And that is no doubt true, even if his actions were the sole contributing factor to his predicament. Yet Liotta played him with such earnestness not only do you sympathize with his plight, but you also almost fall in love with him.
Johnny Depp and Ray Liotta in “Blow.” (Photo: New Line Cinema).
From ‘Goodfellas’ to ‘Blow;’ the Many Faces of Ray Liotta
Like most pop-culture enthusiasts right now, I find myself immersed in the wild saga that is the Johnny Depp v. Amber Heard trial. And through that I’ve been watching a Depp movie a day or every other day. Three days ago I watched “Blow” and was blown away by Ray Liotta’s performance as Depp’s character’s father. Now I knew Liotta was in it. I just don’t normally think of his performance when looking back on this film. My mind always goes to my love of Paul Reubens and his best post-Pee Wee Herman performance. But back to Liotta; holy sweet god damn. The man’s supporting role is a class de force in acting. His final scenes towards the end of the film are particularly harrowing; and it’s a performance that as someone with a father, it just really gets me right in the feels.
You could say I’ve been around the block a couple times with horror movies. It’s my go-to genre and I generally root for monsters because life as a choir boy gets exhausting; it’s nice to live vicariously through the insane for an hour and forty minutes at a shot. My favorite avatar being Hannibal Lector. And in “Hannibal,” seeing Tony Hopkins crack open Liotta’s skull to cut out and prepare a slice of his brain to eat is just so absolutely disgusting, gut wrenching, and sick that every time I watch that film, I have to rewind it at least three times. A recurring factor to Ray Liotta’s career is “underrated.” So many performances fall into that category and this probably being the tops. It’s gold Jerry, gold!
Ray Liotta in the much-loved “Goodfellas” as Henry Hill. (Photo: Warner Bros.).
Liotta’s Henry Hill—Our Kind of Monster
But back to the top with “Goodfellas.” For the love! In a film so rich with people giving the best work of their career, Liotta just kills it. He’s a bad guy; well, a wiseguy. We should not want him to be successful. But like a drug, we need him to be; and when he pulls off the Lufthansa Heist and he’s screaming “Jimmy!” in the shower, slapping the walls, we are all right there in our living room jumping up and down in excitement with him. To this day, whether with a couple friends, my step-brother, and even my father, we all reference “Goodfellas” as the movie of all movies. De Niro, Pesci, Scorsese, and Sorvino are forces of nature; but Liotta is the glue that holds it together and pushes the story forward—because even when he is a monster, he’s our kind of monster. An everyman monster.
Make sure if you want to do a deep dive of his films, you also check out “Identity,” “Heartbreakers,” “Smokin’ Aces,” “The Iceman,” and the insanely-good “Killing Them Softly.” Also check out “Marriage Story,” and of course Rockstar Games’ Grand Theft Auto: Vice City,” where he voices lead character Tommy Vercetti. Each presents a stellar performance. Performances which will leave you with a taste for the most delicious Italian delicacy you could possibly desire. Even though now with this tragic loss, we may be left with egg noodles and ketchup.
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