Mean Streets

It's not yet the Scorsese we know from Casino or The Departed, but there's already a hint of the precise and groundbreaking filmmaker who would define the crime genre for the next 40 years. The master outlines the relationships and status among gangster "nobodies" in a way that is very patient and typical for the seventies, incorporating into the story classical music, the gloomy New York setting and mafia dens full of dirty money and scantily dressed girls. Most importantly, he begins his collaboration with De Niro and Keitel, his acting stalwarts, who both give great and believable performances. I probably made the mistake of watching this lesser known work after all the other and more famous gems Scorsese has made, and it was difficult to appreciate its quality given the expectations. But I still liked it and I will surely watch it again. For the time being, 70%. (23/01/2013)

When you look at "Mean Streets," it's hard to imagine it being associated with that little man who looks so innocently and defenselessly. However, Martin Scorsese directed a film that could easily serve as one of the inspirational sources for Quentin Tarantino's first film, "Reservoir Dogs." And even for other films, while we're at it. Scorsese was not afraid to show the street as it really looked. He didn't exaggerate, but he also didn't hide anything. There's not much violence here, just fights that are definitely better than in the film "Raging Bull". However, what stands out the most are the characters and their performances. Especially the trio of De Niro, Keitel, and Proval, because this time it's truly their acting performances that take the lead. (29/10/2013)

A fantastically portrayed atmosphere of New York in the 1970s with all the afros and the smoking, but, in terms of script, the film almost fails, because things get going only in the last 10 minutes. The rest is just a bar crawl with long shots with no editing, where the camera atypically flits around a bar trying to authentically portray the world of the time. Scorsese's start, De Niro's awesome performance. (25/11/2015)

I have a little problem with Martin Scorsese. His older movies are not fun for me, even though I consider his newer ones some of the best flicks there are. I’m such a heathen that I gave Taxi Driver and Raging Bull three stars, and I will do the same with Mean Streets. In this case mainly because it’s so boring. Well, boring might be too strong a word. It’d be safer to say that the story is not as captivating as other mafia crime movies, failing to make me give it 100% of my attention while watching it. (22/01/2013)

Not very much happens. Marty filmed a great filler with a couple of brighter moments. Excellent actors, Johnny Boy De Niro was most impressive and a surprisingly posh Harvey Keitel also does a good job. But so what, if the excellently written dialogs don’t have a powerful result. This is simply a prelude to Scorsese’s later, more fundamental movies. (29/12/2011)