9 Films "Based On True Stories" That Missed Out The Best Part

9. Karen Was Having An Affair - Goodfellas

Despite chronicling the fall of an entire contingent of the mob Goodfellas is a highly personal story. Charting his journey from plucky upstart working at a gangster owned cab stand to FBI rat hushed into witness protection we're constantly kept on the same side as Henry Hill; when he idolises mobsters, we idolise then; when he's treating mixing cocaine and selling gun parts with the same importance as a pasta sauce, so do we. Because the story's almost entirely from his perspective it means we go easier on him than the ever-professional Jimmy or psychopath Tommy. The one area where the film really condemns Henry is how he treats his wife, Karen. Divorcing shortly after entering witness protection, their relationship was always tricky; Henry had multiples girlfriends on the side and it's often with her when his calm facade comes dowm. She's clearly meant to be semi-sympathetic, which is probably why the film completely ignores that she was having an affair with Henry's boss. That's right - the real Karen Hill was sleeping with Paul Vario, the character Paul Cicero is based on. Puts everything in a different light, doesn't it. Especially when it's suggested in a later work by Henry that it was Paulie's feelings for Karen that led to the death of Tommy (in the film played by Joe Pesci), who had allegedly tried to rape her.