The names of the actors appear briefly on a dark screen. We hear the sound of a car on a road. A title reads: 'This film is based on a true story.' Then we see a large American car from the back, driving at night on the wrong, that is, on the left side of the road. The car swerves into the right lane, the camera stays in the left, catches up, comes alongside the car. The screen goes dark again and a title says, 'New York, 1970'. Now we get a view of the moving car from the front, outside the windscreen, the camera slightly off to the driver's left. Ray Liotta, looking young and spruce but tired, is at the wheel, his face well lit. Robert de Niro, in the passenger seat, is asleep. Joe Pesci, in the back seat, is nodding off. A thumping noise is heard, and Liotta says, 'Jimmy.' De Niro wakes up. Liotta continues: 'Did I hear somethin'?'

LRB 2 July 1998 | PDF Download