If he's so great, where are his great movies?

It can easily be argued that outside of Goodfellas and Field of Dreams, he has BUPKIS on his resume. He has a small number of good supporting performances in decent thrillers, and he's been in a dozen comedies ranging from okay (Youth in Revolt, Date Night) to terrible (Dumbo Drop, Observe and Report, Wild Hogs).

Usually when I see Ray Liotta in a film, I have the same reaction that I have when I see Samuel L. Jackson or Christopher Walken in B, C, and D-grade flicks-- hope you got a nice paycheck for this, Ray!

Sure, he elevates individual scenes... but where are his memorable performances? In fact, outside of Narc (which is pretty good mostly because of Liotta), name me a good movie in which Liotta gives the best performance. I don't think you can. Too many bad movies, too many better actors in his good movies.

If you can't be called the best part of a great movie, and you don't have more than five very good movies on your resume, I don't think I can call you a great actor. I like Liotta, and his intensity is trademarked... but he's not great. He's merely a good actor in films below his talent level who is capable of giving a great performance yet rarely has.