And, yes, of course, the rest of the movie is excellent. This is Martin Scorsese, after all, and one of his best. He's on his home turf; what's not to like?

First smart move: Pesci's character suddenly lashing out in the very first scene, jabbing the poor lost soul in the trunk of the car. This is a newsflash to the audience: We won't be holding back here, folks. If this sort of thing makes you queasy, walk out/turn off now, because anything can happen from here on in. That knowledge -- anything can happen, we won't be pulling punches, these people are ruthless -- serves the horror genre well and gives this gangster flick its first jolt of adrenalin: for the next two and a half hours, anyone anywhere on the screen might lash out like that again.