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Mean Streets

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Mean Streets

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Summary

Martin Scorsese's drama starring Harvey Keitel and Robert De Niro. In New York's Little Italy, four young hustler friends while away their time by indulging in petty crime and drinking in Tony's bar. But Johnny Boy's unpredictable behaviour and his refusal to pay back his debts threatens his friendship with Charlie, causing increasing tension among the group.

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Review

A star rating of 5 out of 5.

Andrew Collins

After a low-budget apprenticeship served under B-movie king Roger Corman, Mean Streets was director Martin Scorsese's breakthrough film. Drawing on his upbringing in New York's Little Italy, the semi-autobiographical story concerns two friends - Charlie (Harvey Keitel), the older of the two and a debt collector for the Mob, and tearaway hoodlum Johnny Boy (Robert De Niro), who's in hock to loan sharks and a drain on Charlie's patience and reputation. Opening with a home movie-style, 8mm montage set to the Ronettes' Be My Baby, this explicitly European-influenced film establishes Scorsese's masterful use of music, mixing a 1960s pop soundtrack with grubby pool-hall violence. Mean Streets hinges on the power of its lead performances; Keitel exhibits simmering anguish as he struggles to reconcile his religion and lifestyle while dating the epileptic Teresa (Amy Robinson) against his boss's wishes, while the freewheeling De Niro is full of edgy humour, life and barely concealed danger. The result is a keystone of 1970s American cinema.

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7.1/10

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Credits

Cast

rolenameCharlieHarvey KeitelJohnny BoyRobert De NiroTonyDavid ProvalTeresaAmy RobinsonMichaelRichard RomanusGiovanniCesare DanovaMarioVictor ArgoAssassinRobert CarradineDianeJeannie BellDrunk in Tony's barDavid CarradineCar gunmanMartin Scorsese

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Crew

rolenameDirectorMartin Scorsese

Details

Theatrical distributor

Blue Dolphin

Released on

2005-01-21

Languages

English | Yiddish | German | Italian

Guidance

Violence, swearing, a sex scene, drug abuse, nudity

Available on

video, DVD and Blu-ray

Formats

Colour

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