Five of Ray Liotta’s greatest roles
Ray Liotta, who died in the Dominican Republic in May aged 67, was always a memorable screen presence.
But although he was often cast as a straight-out villain, corrupt cop or tough guy during his more than 40-year career, some of his best work came when he showed his softer side.
There was his turn as a 1950s widower in 1994’s Corrina, Corrina, a sometimes hotheaded army officer in the charming Vietnam War comedy Operation Dumbo Drop a year later and as an aspiring medical student forced to look after his troubled brother in 1988’s Dominick and Eugene.
However, after looking through his more than 120 film and TV credits, Stuff to Watch has come up with our five favourite performances (and where you can watch them).
Field of Dreams
(1989, iTunes, GooglePlay) ‘‘If you build it, they will come.’’ It might be the most quotable line, but there are plenty of other memorable moments in this empowering adaptation of WP Kinsella’s 1982 novel Shoeless Joe. Kevin Costner plays Ray Kinsella, an Iowan farmer, who turns his cornfield into a magical baseball field. Liotta is winningly warm as the eponymous ‘‘Shoeless’’ Joe Jackson: ‘‘Man, I did love this game. I’d have played for food money.’’
GoodFellas
(1990, Neon) Joe Pesci stole most of the scenes and Robert De Niro was considered the lead, it was Liotta who was the heart, soul and focus of Martin Scorsese’s peerless gangster movie. After all, this is the story of his Henry Hill and his event-filled life in the mob. His rich, evocative and beautifully delivered narration is what helps set the scene and mood of this masterpiece: ‘‘Your murderers come with smiles, they come as your friends, the people who’ve cared for you all of your life. And they always seem to come at a time that you’re at your weakest and most in need of their help.’’
Killing Them Softly
(2012, iTunes)
From its arresting opening to Brad Pitt’s final jab at America’s dark heart, Kiwi-born director Andrew Dominik’s tale is a small, but multi-stranded drama that invites comparisons with Goodfellas or TV’s The Wire in its audaciousness. A stylish crime story with a serious message. Liotta is electrifying as nefarious poker game king Markie Trattman.
Marriage Story
(2019, Netflix)
Noah Baumbach’s tale reminds of the best of Woody Allen’s output, Kramer v Kramer, or (500) Days of Summer. That this divorce-as-a-love-story works so magnificently and gutpunchingly is down to Baumbach’s slow-burning narrative and some fabulous performances. Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson deservedly got plenty of plaudits, and Laura Dern received an Oscar, but Liotta was at his scene-stealing best as abrasive, acerbic divorce attorney Jay Marotta. ‘‘If we start from a place of reasonable and they start from a place of crazy, when we settle we’ll be somewhere between reasonable and crazy.’’
Something Wild
(1986, GooglePlay) Liotta was nominated for a Golden Globe for his performance in this crime-comedy about Melanie Griffith’s freespirited young woman, who kidnaps Jeff Daniels’ ‘‘yuppie’’ for a weekend of adventure. However, it takes a dangerous turn when her ex-convict husband, Liotta’s Ray Sinclair, shows up. ‘‘Always keep ’em guessing, Charlie!’’ he threatens.