With The Irishman garnering a lot of attention, now seems like a good time to revisit another of Martin Scorsese’s crime masterpieces, Goodfellas. The film explores the rise and fall of Henry Hill, a member of an Italian mafia family. The film is filled with so many memorable lines and moments, many of them coming from Tommy DeVito, played by Joe Pesci.
Tommy is a close friend of Henry and one of the most frightening film characters of all time. His wild mood swings, violent temper, and unpredictable behavior creates incredible tension in any scene he’s involved in. Here are the worst things Tommy DeVito ever did in Goodfellas.
Mistreatment Of Sonny
Tommy is a guy who really enjoys the luxuries of the life of crime and indulgences in it quite often. He likes to have a good time, but he’s not too interested in paying for it. Sonny, the owner of one of Tommy’s favorite clubs, finds that out the hard way.
While Tommy and his friends are having a good time, Sonny comes over and tries to collect for the bill. Tommy says to put it on his tab but Sonny explains that the tab has run into the thousands and has yet to be paid. Tommy eventually gets irritated with Sonny trying to collect and smashes a bottle over his head as Tommy and his friends laugh at him.
Funny How?
Tommy can really be the life of the party, telling jokes and laughing with his friends. However, it would be pretty scary being friends with a guy like him as you would never know when he’ll turn on you or what innocent comment might send him over the edge.
In one of the movie’s most iconic scenes, Tommy and his friends are having some drinks when Henry comments that Tommy is really funny. Tommy’s demeanor immediately changes and he begins taking the comment personally. As the tension rises, Tommy finally reveals that he was joking. That’s not really the kind of guy you want to be hanging around with.
Stealing Trucks
Tommy is involved in so many criminal activities that hijacking a truck is far down on the list of the most serious offenses. However, the way Tommy takes such glee in tormenting and threatening innocent people is just another example of how unhinged he is.
As he and Henry stop a transport truck on the highway, Tommy sticks a gun in the driver’s face and pulls him out of the vehicle. Despite the driver cooperating, Tommy roughs him up before driving off in the truck, firing his gun.
Shooting Spider In The Foot
Though Tommy will not stand for anyone treating him with disrespect, he doesn’t have any problem insulting or mistreating anyone he sees as beneath him. This is certainly the case for Spider, a young man who serves the gang drinks while they play cards.
After Spider forgets Tommy’s drink, he begins insulting him and toying with him. Mimicking the old Westerns, he shoots at Spider’s feet, getting him to dance. Inevitably, he shoots Spider in the foot and not only does he not feel bad about it, but he also continues insulting him.
Dinner With His Mother
You would think that a man visiting his elderly mother and having dinner with her would be a nice thing to do when Tommy does it, it becomes a much darker moment. Tommy, Henry and Jimmy Conway all arrive at Tommy’s mother’s home late at night and she immediately makes a meal for them.
But as Tommy is sitting down with his mother and having a nice dinner, he has a body locked in the trunk of his car which sits in the driveway. It adds an unsettling bit of dark humor to the scene, especially when they begin joking about the man in the trunk.
Offensive Slurs
It’s not enough that Tommy is a rage-filled murderer and thief, he is also a racist, anti-Semite, and misogynist. And just like all his other offensive and vulgar behavior, he sees no reason to hide his horrible prejudices. In fact, he voices them pretty regularly.
Tommy is regularly insulting women he is seeing and threaten them. He makes offensive remarks about one of his girlfriends being Jewish. He even chastises another girl for suggesting that Sammy Davis Jr. is attractive. While he might do more violent things, this just reinforced what a terrible person he is.
Killing Stacks
The characters in this film do not seem to have much loyalty for their fellow criminals. Tommy, in particular, seems to have no issue killing his associates if it is needed. This is certainly true of Stacks Edwards, played by Samuel L. Jackson, a man who worked as a driver for their crew during a heist.
Stacks did screw up by failing to get rid of the car that was used in the crime so it’s not surprising that he had to die. But the cold-blooded way in which Tommy does it is very chilling. He invites himself into Stack’s apartment and carries on a conversation with him before shooting him in the back of the head.
Killing Morrie
Morrie is another member of the inner circle who was bound to get whacked. Though he helped out with various operations, he was a constant annoyance to everyone, including Jimmy and Tommy. So when Morrie keeps asking for his share of the heist, it was only a matter of time before he was gone.
Once again, the way Tommy carries out the murder shows how evil he really is. After spending a fun night together playing cards, Tommy and Morrie seem to be forming a friendly bond. But that is all a ruse as Tommy brutally stabs Morrie in the head.
Killing Billy Batts
Tommy’s uncontrollable anger is what makes him so scary and it is ultimately what leads to his demise. Even when confronted with someone more powerful and important than him in the crime world, Tommy will not abide by any disrespect.
When Tommy and his friends run into made man Billy Batts things go from friendly to contentious very quickly. After Batts insults Tommy, he leaves and returns later in the even and proceeds to beat Batts to death. They shove Batts in the trunk of the car then stab him to death when he shows that he’s still breathing.
Killing Spider
Poor Spider wasn’t able to get away with just getting shot in the foot by Tommy. When Spider returns to serve the gang while sporting a bandaged foot, Tommy continues to show no remorse. Finally fed up with the insults, Spider tells Tommy off.
The gang laughs and ridicules Tommy for the insult while praising Spider for standing up for himself. The fun ends when Tommy shoots Spider dead. Once again, as his shocked friends react, Tommy shows no remorse at all.
