God this movie is terrible. I love every second of it.
Most boring Scorsese film… maybe it’s because I just don’t like gangster/organized crime movies
Mean Streets feels like Goodfellas' younger brother - not nearly as handsome, feared, or respected, but of the same DNA. The writing is weak, and the story arch is slow and flat, but Robert De Niro puts in a spectacular performance.
This movie served as a practice for Scorsese and De Niro to become film stars. Experimental movie, yes, with a narrative not very well built and understood, maybe; but anyone can sense what Scorsese will make in the following years and decades. Early Scorsese was very avant-garde. I’ve never seen De Niro acting such a comedic character, like a jester.
Scorsese's first exercises on the subject.
Although it looks like experimental cinema, there are glimpses of the future Scorserse. Robert de Niro seems to be rehearsing for Taxi Driver and later films.
Mean streets is one of Martin Scorsese’s early movies, it feels raw yet it is still an interesting movie. Robert De Niro and Harvey Keitel are great. The music in the movie is great and the dialogue between the characters is good as well. Overall it’s a good movie with not much of a story but a great Scorsese movie.
( 8 out of 10)
I like this movie a lot more after a rewatch. This being one of Scorsese's early films it is still raw and not as defined as his later work but you see a lot of talent here. The Jumpin Jack Flash entrance is great, hell all of the music is great. The camera focused of Charlie's drunk face is fantastic too. A lot of interesting things done. Plus Robert De Niro and Harvey Keitel both give great performances.
Shout by DeletedBlockedParent2014-01-31T20:07:06Z
"You don't make up for your sins in church. You do it in the streets. You do it at home. The rest is bullshit and you know it."
Any flaws that this film might have are all excusable. This is one of the early Martin Scorsese films and what a great one! In Mean Streets we see a raw Martin Scorsese and it's very interesting to identify his technical skills and trademarks even in a much more amateur way. And don't get me wrong when I say amateur, this film has a strong direction and it's a pretty good film! It's very interesting to see what this amazing director has improved through all this years.
This was also the beginning of one of the most sucessfull director/actor collaborations since it was in this film that Robert De Niro and Martin Scorsese worked together for the first time.
Harvey Keitel and Robert De Niro deliver great performances in the streets of New York City with a particularly beautiful dark atmosphere.
A defined genre born with this film, it's what I like to call the "Scorsese's Gangster Films" and nobody does it better than he does. Just for that, this film is worth a watch.