Perhaps the unlikeliest Ray Liotta role is getting heaps of praise from fans of the recently-deceased actor.
Numerous Twitter users are shouting out his role as Pete Landolfa in Hubie Halloween right alongside Henry Hill in Goodfellas, Shoeless Joe Jackson in Field of Dreams, Frank Sinatra in The Rat Pack, Aldo Moltisanti in The Many Saints of Newark, and Jay Marotta in Marriage Story.
Hubie Halloween is basically a meme at this point. Haters became fans, and fans became haters while the zeitgeist tried to decide whether the 2020 Adam Sandler production is a good or bad film. A consensus has yet to be reached, with viewers calling it everything from “garbage-level comedy” to “excellent” to “so bad it’s good.”
One thing that viewers can agree on, at least today, is that Liotta is fantastic as Hubie’s antagonist in the film. That Liotta, who passed away on May 26 at age 67, was able to play a serious mobster and a goofy Sandler foil is a testament to his range as an actor. It’s also what’s fueling the Hubie Halloween praise: while everyone else is citing Goodfellas on Liotta’s death day, the Hubie-holics are paying tribute to the legendary actor in a post-ironic way. Liotta’s actually good in Hubie, but it’s ironic to mention that performance above all others.
You can watch Liotta in Hubie Halloween on Netflix or check out any of his past work like Goodfellas or future work like Cocaine Bear, which is set to be released in 2023.
