Review of Mean Streets (1973) by Lorenzo V — 25 Mar 2010
"You don't make up for your sins in church. You do it in the streets...".
A small-time hood struggles to succeed on the "mean streets" of Little Italy.
REVIEW.
Filmmaker Martin Scorsese placed himself in the echelon of top directors in his breakthrough movie about small time hoods in the seamier neighborhoods of Manhattan with Keitel as Charlie, a tough guy with some smarts and plenty of Catholic guilt and De Niro in a breakthrough performance as Keitel's loose cannon screw up Johnny Boy who shoots off his mouth more than he should. Funny dialogue (De Niro: `What am I in coffee and cake land, here?'), improvisatory feel throughout and fine camera work mingled with a retro 1960s jukebox soundtrack and always the threat of unsurpressed violence (lotsa fights!). My favorite scene is when Keitel and his boys go to the local bookie in a pool hall and get into not one but two scuffles (`Mook? Pregnant pause: `I'll give ya Mook!') Look sharp for David and Robert Carradine in an unbelievable bar shooting, Scorsese's mother helping Keitel's epileptic girlfriend Robinson and Scorsese himself as an assassin (and yes that's him in the beginning moments as Keitel's voice over'd conscience). Gritty and goofy all at once.
This review of Mean Streets (1973) was written by Lorenzo V on 25 Mar 2010.
Mean Streets has generally received very positive reviews.
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