Mean Streets

Martin Scorsese’s understated warm-up before his major projects (Goodfellas, Casino). Though his later works are more opulent and visually refined, Mean Streets definitely does not lag behind in terms of storytelling or portrayal of the characters. The perfect Harvey Keitel as a good-natured and decent gangster in training who protects and sticks up for his friend, an irresponsible fool played by Robert De Niro. De Niro, in a smaller role than Keitel, gives a delectably eccentric performance. An honest gangster movie filled with love for the dirty streets of New York and their vivacious inhabitants. (13/11/2017)

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)

A naturalistically dirty routine of good-for-nothings, rubberneckers, brokes, dandies and wannabe gangsters who only shop at bargain stores. It is based purely on situations, spontaneity (often it seems like improvisation), atmosphere and characters, it is not about a story. After all, except for a kind of digression about Johnny's debts, there isn't one. Although with reservations (self-serving slowdowns, paper-rusting internal monologues), it works even today and not only as a "supplementary material FYI", which would work purely in the level of the the movies it draw inspiration from like Taxi Driver, Goodfellas or Casino. (20/11/2017)

Scorsese has always been able to give his key films an incredibly cool atmosphere. He managed to do the same with this unassuming gangster film. However, you have to play along with her game to really enjoy it, as the story unfolds through smoky bars, streets full of strange characters, or restaurants where cunning mobsters sit. So, the setting is exactly to my cinematic taste. When I add in the charismatic Keitel and slightly insane De Niro, I know that all that was needed was to thicken the plot and I would be paying endless tribute to Marty. 85% (15/06/2007)

In the film, it is evident that Scorsese was still exploring the world of cinema. His potential was apparent, and a social atmosphere of the 70s emerged on the screen - racism, the Vietnam War, minority integration, etc. The film follows the story of a foot soldier for the mafia who works as a collector for his influential uncle. He is not cut out for the job, not tough enough, but a family business is a family business, and being loyal pays off. Mean Streets lacks coherence, better character development, and work with them. The story is diluted into a chain of loosely connected scenes from the lives of the lower ranks of the mafia. It is nice to see the young faces of De Niro and Keitel, whom I had fixed as older guys from movies made 20 years later. The film itself, however, is only a slightly above-average affair. Overall impression: 60%. (25/01/2013)

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)

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)

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)