R.I.P. Ray Liotta (1954-2022)

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The first time I saw Ray Liotta was around the 1990s when Greek public Tv showed a film called "Something Wild" starring Jeff Daniels,as a conservative white collar man and Melanie Griffifth, as a free spirited woman that drifts Jeff Daniels away with her charm. A classic love story about "opposite attracts". Truth be told, it wasn't one of the greatest movies in the world. There were many gaps in the plot, the characters weren't realistic and generally there was something missing. But what drew my attention was Ray Liotta, who played the convict ex-husband of Melanie Griffifth. He was so passionate in that part that you could see in his eyes the "insanity" of the character that he played. He was so convincing, that made you believe that he was really a convict that manically pursued his ex-wife,

Perhaps it was the part in "Something Wild" that made Scorsese think of him to get him the role that made him famous: the role of Henry Hill in "Goodfellas". A part that looked like it was written just for him. For me, when I think about this movie, when the title "Goodfellas" comes in mind, I always remember the scene at the nightclub, where Ray Liotta laughs his heart out with the "antics" of Joe Pesci. (Sorry, Mr. De Niro, but Ray Liotta was magnificent in that part. Even though he wasn't nominated for an award).

And although he has made many more films and series,(I believe that in many of them he had the role of a police officer or a criminal or sometimes both together), in my mind there are two films that will make me remember him.
The scene in Hannibal, where Ray Liotta, with his skull open, eats his own mind, as Anthony Hopkins feeds him in front of Julianne Moore's frightened eyes. That scene was so damned outrageous to set up, without any hesitation even for a moment in front of us was laid the process of cooking that piece of brain. And even if the protagonist was Anthony Hopkins, for me, Ray Liotta, won the stage just by being there. It seemed so unreal realistic that it made the scene even scarier.

As you can see, I didn't post the specfic scene, because it is quite gruesome. But if anyone wants to watch it, you can finf it in youtube

And the second one, -even if you might find strange that from all the films in his caree, this is all I remember- is Operation Dumbo Drop. That is because my niece, when she was little, was crazy about elephants and she really liked this movie. We must have watched it together, more than ten times. At first I was not excited, as I considered it an ordinary, not surprises there-film, which was shot just for the box office. But such was the atmosphere of the film and all the actors who played in it that made me laugh and cry with my little niece. And believe me, my niece and I did a lot of crying...

So, for all the emotions that I had through your movies, thank you, Ray Liotta.

Thank you for the movies you left behind.

Rest in peace, Ray.