Goodfellas: The Shine Box Scene
The scene in Goodfellas when Billy Batts (Frank Vincent) insults Tommy DeVito (Joe Pesci) by bringing up his past work as a shoe shiner ends in one of the most brutal scenes in the movie. Tommy tells Billy not to break his balls, to which Billy responds, “If I was gonna break your balls, I’d tell you to go home and get your shine box.”
Tommy would have started fighting Billy right away if Henry Hill (Ray Liotta) and James Conway (Robert De Niro) hadn’t stepped in and escorted Tommy out of the bar. But Billy refuses to apologize and doubles down on his insult. At the end of the night, Tommy re-enters the nearly empty bar, and together, he and James beat Billy to death as Henry watches.
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