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Mean Streets

Play trailer Poster for Mean Streets R 1973 1h 52m Crime Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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92% Tomatometer 78 Reviews 84% Popcornmeter 50,000+ Ratings
A slice of street life in Little Italy among lower echelon Mafiosos, unbalanced punks, and petty criminals. A small-time hood gets in over his head with a vicious loan shark. In an attempt to free himself from the dangers of his debt, he gets help from a friend who is also involved in criminal activities.
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Mean Streets

Mean Streets

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Critics Consensus

Mean Streets is a powerful tale of urban sin and guilt that marks Scorsese's arrival as an important cinematic voice and features electrifying performances from Harvey Keitel and Robert De Niro.

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Critics Reviews

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Colin Bennett The Age (Australia) 09/24/2024
Despite vivid playing by Robert De Niro as the wildest and most self-destructive of them, relationships are not developed very far. Violence finally swamps them -- a brutal slaying which tries to elevate banal characters to some kind of heroic status. Go to Full Review
Kevin Maher The Times (UK) 02/01/2024
Freeze frames, casual violence and conversation are there in service of a story about two apprentice hoodlums... Go to Full Review
Kristin M. Jones Wall Street Journal 12/05/2023
For all its raw, exhilarating energy, it’s a film that can always break your heart. Go to Full Review
Matt Brunson Film Frenzy Nov 29
3.5/4
It was this picture that allowed Martin Scorsese to position himself as one of the most notable of the exciting new directors making their mark on Hollywood during the explosive ’70s. Go to Full Review
Wael Khairy The Cinephile Fix Mar 10
Mean Streets opens a window to the indoor activities of gangsters. Scorsese uses pool halls, restaurants, bars, and clubs as the backdrop and as with most of his films, the external environment has an internal effect on our protagonist. Go to Full Review
Katie Hogan FILMHOUNDS Magazine 01/22/2024
3/5
The violence is frequent and inconsistent, just like the plot direction, but there are decent performances within the film. Scorsese had a decent start to his career, this being his third film, and he only continued to develop his work for the better. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Trevor D @Bozack2000 3d You can tell that Scorsese was figuring out how to tell a story. This movie is a wonderful mess that has so many direction changes the audience gets whiplash. Lucky for the rest of us he figured it out and learned how to tell amazing stories. Plus it was really cool seeing this on the big screen as I wasn't alive when it was originally released. See more peter 3d I went to see this film because I had never seen it. The film was not a pretty depiction of my fellow Italians from the seventies which is when I was coming of age in NYC. The characters were all so empty and prone to such violence. There was a lot of talking but no one really connected in the film except through that violence, I am a big admirer of DeNero but I was thrilled when he finally got what was coming to his ugly character. See more Fred F. @Fred1 5d Unforgivable overacting by De Niro. See more scott 5d since it has Robert dinero in it I won't be watching it. See more theguywithawheel23 6d Scorsese's most personal film and his first true masterpiece. His style improved, along with his talents as a director and storyteller, but it started here. The birth of one of the greatest filmmakers of the 20th Century. It's hard to say anything he's done since can rival, if anything, the sheer personality projected on screen. The performances, the setting, the symbolism, the emotional weight. Films rarely feel so real, so honest. See more rex w Dec 11 I first saw "Mean Streets" way back in 1973. I was 17 years old. I loved it. It was Martin Scorsese on training wheel. You can see vividly the director he would become. The same can also be said for Robert DeNiro. His self-destructive personality is never fully explained, but he is the film's most interesting character, even though he plays a supporting role. See more Read all reviews
Mean Streets

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Movie Info

Synopsis A slice of street life in Little Italy among lower echelon Mafiosos, unbalanced punks, and petty criminals. A small-time hood gets in over his head with a vicious loan shark. In an attempt to free himself from the dangers of his debt, he gets help from a friend who is also involved in criminal activities.
Director
Martin Scorsese
Producer
Jonathan T. Taplin
Screenwriter
Martin Scorsese, Martin Scorsese, Mardik Martin
Distributor
Warner Bros. Pictures
Production Co
Taplin - Perry - Scorsese Productions
Rating
R
Genre
Crime, Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Jan 1, 1973, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
Dec 1, 2010
Box Office (Gross USA)
$32.6K
Runtime
1h 52m
Sound Mix
Mono
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