His comedy roles include such films as the Betsy’s Wedding (1990), with Alan Alda (who also directed), Molly Ringwald, Ally Sheedy, Madeline Kahn, Joey Bishop, Anthony LaPaglia, Burt Young, and Catherine O’Hara; Chris Columbus/John Hughes collaboration Home Alone (1990), and the sequel Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992), with Macaulay Culkin and Daniel Stern; Jonathan Lynn‘s My Cousin Vinny (1992), with Marisa Tomei; Ralph Macchio, and Fred Gwyne; and Richard Donner‘s Lethal Weapon franchise (1989-1998), with Danny Glover and Mel Gibson.
Pesci won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as the psychopathic gangster Tommy DeVito in Goodfellas and received two other nominations in the same category for his portrayals of Joey LaMotta and Russell Bufalino in 1980’s Raging Bull and in 2019’s The Irishman, respectively. He announced his retirement from acting in 1999, and has since appeared only occasionally in films. He is also a musician who has recorded three studio albums, Little Joe Sure Can Sing! (1968), Vincent LaGuardia Gambini Sings Just for You (1998) and Pesci… Still Singing (2019).
Each review will be linked to the title below.
(*seen originally in theaters)
(**seen rereleased in theaters)
- Hey, Let’s Twist (1961) – directed by Greg Garrison – uncredited
- The Death Collector (1976) – directed by Ralph De Vito
- Raging Bull (1980)** – directed by Martin Scorsese
- I’m Dancing as Fast as I Can (1982) – directed by Jack Hofsiss
- Dear Mr. Wonderful (1982) – directed by Peter Lilienthal – aka Ruby’s Dream
- Eureka (1983) – directed by Nicolas Roeg
- Easy Money (1983) – directed by James Signorelli
- Once Upon a Time in America (1984) – directed by Sergio Leone – aka C’era una volta in America – US/Italy
- Everybody in Jail (1984) – directed by Alberto Sordi – aka Tutti dentro – Italy
- Half Nelson (1985) – TV movie/Pilot
- Half Nelson (1985) – TV series – 6 episodes – main role
- Man on Fire (1987) – directed by Élie Chouraqui – aka Un uomo sotto tiro & L’homme de feu – France/Italy/US
- Moonwalker (1988) – directed by Jerry Kramer & Colin Chilvers – anthology
- The Legendary Life of Ernest Hemingway (1988) – directed by José María Sánchez
- Lethal Weapon 2 (1989) – directed by Richard Donner
- Catchfire (1990) – directed by Dennis Hopper – uncredited
- Betsy’s Wedding (1990) – directed by Alan Alda
- Goodfellas (1990)** – directed by Martin Scorsese
- Home Alone (1990) – directed by Chris Columbus
- The Super (1991) – directed by Rod Daniel
- JFK (1991) – directed by Oliver Stone
- My Cousin Vinny (1992) – directed by Jonathan Lynn
- Lethal Weapon 3 (1992) – directed by Richard Donner
- The Public Eye (1992) – directed by Howard Franklin
- Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992)* – directed by Chris Columbus
- A Bronx Tale (1993) – directed by Robert De Niro
- Jimmy Hollywood (1994) – directed by Barry Levinson
- With Honors (1994) – directed by Alek Keshishian
- Casino (1995) – directed by Martin Scorsese
- 8 Heads in a Duffel Bag (1997) – directed by Tom Schulman
- Gone Fishin’ (1997)* – directed by by Christopher Cain
- Lethal Weapon 4 (1998) – directed by Richard Donner
- The Good Shepherd (2005) – directed by Robert De Niro
- Love Ranch (2010) – directed by Taylor Hackford
- A Warrior’s Tail (2015) – directed by Maxim Fadeev – English dub – aka Savva: Heart of the Warrior & Savva: Serdtse Voina – Russia
- The Irishman (2019) – directed by Martin Scorsese
I Review Stuff 