Based on the book Wiseguy by Nicholas Pileggi. Originally released theatrically by Warner Bros. in 1990. LC copy lacks disc 2 with special features. Most of summary taken from Allmovie.com WWW site. Warner Home Video no. 19122. LC also holds 35 mm. viewing print in the Copyright Collection. Sources used: Monthly film bulletin, v. 57, no. 683, p. 355-356; Variety, September 10, 1990; New York times, September 19, 1990, p. C11; Video Source Book 2001; Wikipedia WWW site, August 7, 2017; Allmovie.com WWW site, August 7, 2017; OCLC record no. 752269765. Robert De Niro, Ray Liotta, Joe Pesci, Lorraine Bracco, Paul Sorvino.
Summary:
Explores the rise and fall of mobster and FBI informant Henry Hill, a half-Irish, half-Sicilian New York kid who grows up idolizing the "wise guys" in his impoverished Brooklyn neighborhood. He begins hanging around the mobsters, running errands and doing odd jobs until he gains the notice of local chieftain Paulie Cicero, who takes him in as a surrogate son. As he reaches his teens, Hill is inducted into the world of petty crime, where he distinguishes himself as a "stand-up guy" by choosing jail time over ratting on his accomplices. From that moment on, he is a part of the family. Along with his psychotic partner Tommy, he rises through the ranks to become Paulie's lieutenant; however, he quickly learns that his ethnicity prevents him from ever becoming a "made guy," an actual member of the crime family. Soon he finds himself the target of both the feds and the mobsters, who feel that he has become a threat to their security with his reckless dealings.
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