Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

'Mean Streets (1973)' is seasoned with sprinklings of greatness, at times showing shades of what Scorsese would go on to do (i.e. 'Goodfellas (1990)'). Despite some solid acting throughout and a few entertaining sequences, though, the film generally falls flat thanks to the fact that there really isn't all that much of a plot and, as such, there isn't any real drama to latch onto. The result is a picture which feels much longer than it is and is also actually rather boring, floating along from set-piece to set-piece without any compelling connective tissue. It ends just as it seems to get going, too. 5/10

I was completely bored watching this movie. The character of Johnny Boy is one of the most annoying characters I've ever seen on film and I have no idea why anyone would protect him, help him, or assist him in any way, ever! I wanted to shoot him on my tv minutes after he came on screen! And what is the plot of this story? The most annoying man on earth owes someone money and he doesn't' pay? I'd give it just one star, but the music was good.

Mean Streets is a good movie with a reasonably well developed plot and a fantastic cast. This was the first major film to be released by director Martin Scorsese, and what a stellar beginning for such an outstanding career. It sets up a tone that he would adhere to for the next several years, conveying the crime scene in New York in a way that is not trying to intimidate its audience, but actually getting us to sympathise with these criminals. It has very little plot, the majority of the movie is just a collection of clips of people committing crimes, discussing crimes or other legal matters. While these scenes are well executed and shot, we are not given an actual story to follow along to until much later on, which made it a little disengaging. Harvey Keitel's character is also quite bland. I do not blame him as a performer for this, but the writers, there were plenty of characters throughout, particularly Robert De Niro's, whom I thought would have made the movie so much more interesting had they been given the lead role. Charlie was neither likable nor intriguing enough to carry the film. It's a stellar beginning from Scorsese. While it may fall flat on certain occasions, Mean Streets is still an entertaining flick that is worth the watch if you are looking for a good crime. Charlie aspires to work his way up in a local mob business in New York City. Best Performance: Robert De Niro

Although Martin Scorsese had made a few movies before Mean Streets, this was the film that brought him critical acclaim for the first time in a big way and this was the film that showcased the birth of a master with a unique sense of style and cinematic language. The screenplay for Mean Streets written by Scorsese and Mardik Martin was based on a story idea by Scorsese himself. He really wanted to make a film about the life that he himself was very familiar with coming from an Italian-American neighbourhood. The film certainly feels very personal and has to be a cinematic reflection of his early life and experiences.I think a comparison between Mean Streets and two other Scorsese gangster films namely Goodfellas and Casino is interesting. While all the three do come under the bracket of gangster films, but I think Mean Streets is significantly distinct from Goodfellas and Casino in the way it is structured. Goodfellas is very tightly structured and the narrative always moves in a very specific direction. Mean Streets on the other hand is very loosely structured. The screenplay doesn't have a lot happening in it and the narrative is very episodic in nature. Scorsese uses this loose and episodic narrative structure to his benefit as it helps him to really pay attention to and develop the characters that make up the film. Charlie and Johnny Boy's relationship serves as the backbone of the film, but in reality Mean Streets is Charlie's story. The film is about him, his insecurity, his religious ideas, his friends, his neighbourhood, his family and last but by no means least, his guilt. Although Scorsese introduces all the boys of the neighbourhood i.e. Charlie, Tony, Michael and Tony with their own individual scenes that established them as the guys we will follow, but in reality we actually get inside the mind of only Charlie. Charlie is a fascinating character. Right from the first shot of the film, we get to be aware of the fact that he is a devout Christian and he really fears the prospect of having to pay for all the sins of crime that he has committed. Unlike his other friends, he is respectful of people and has a heart. He is respectful of the lord, but wants to serve penance in his own way which is to help the wild and slightly dimwitted Johnny Boy. He wants to save Johnny Boy and in turn get saved himself by God. He actually confronts many instances where he can choose what he wants and what is good for him, but we see him repeatedly choosing the opposite. He is attracted to the black dancer, but the collective racism of his friends prevents him from approaching her. He can get together with Teresa, leave this life and this neighbourhood, but he doesn't and cites the prospect of owning a restaurant which his uncle dangled in front of him as the reason to not go away. Like his other friends in the locality, Charlie is also plagued by a firm sense of insecurity. He knows that the life he leads is not ideal and he knew as a devout Christian that he will pay, but he is fearful of going out of this neighbourhood and going somewhere where he is not a big-shot. So he in his mind manipulates things to satisfy himself that by doing good for Johnny Boy, he is serving his penance without having to leave this life. So although in an explicit sense the bond between Charlie and Johnny looks pure with a firm foundation of brotherhood, in a way Charlie does all he does for Johnny mainly because of selfish reasons and his personal desire to serve penance and get 'saved'. Ironically it's this desperation to save Johnny Boy that brings Charlie down. These complexities in Charlie work majorly because Scorsese in his storytelling doesn't judge Charlie. He is presented as a normal person with flaws.Even at such an early stage in his career, we can see Scorsese experimenting extensively here with new and fresh ideas and techniques for the time. There are so many examples of fantastic filmmaking like the super 8 footage during the opening credits with the Ronettes' 'Be My Baby', the long Steadicam shot when Charlie enters the bar dancing with the Rolling Stones' 'Tell Me' playing at the back, Johnny Boy's entrance in the film with 'Jumpin' Jack Flash' playing, etc. I also love how Scorsese shoots all the scenes in Tony's bar in striking red neon light giving the bar a hellish look. I don't think the film is flawless. The editing in a few scenes is a bit choppy which is expected from a young filmmaker. There is an extended scene in the bar where a Vietnam Veteran is given a party. I thought that scene went on for a little too long and became a little too flashy and self-indulgent. Apart from that, the film is brilliantly directed.All the actors perform well but clearly the headliners are Harvey Keitel and Robert De Niro. Keitel is absolutely brilliant in expressing the inner guilt and the complex and sometimes conflicting emotions distressing him along with his desperation to help out Johnny Boy. Robert De Niro in his first of many collaborations with Scorsese is absolutely dynamite as Johnny Boy. The manic eccentricity that De Niro gives to the character is highly impressive. Mean Streets isn't about the plot. It's about the characters and mainly about Charlie. It's about a character who is well aware of the fact that the life he leads is not ideal. But just like the boys in Fellini's 'I Vitelloni', the fear of exploring the unknown prevents him from abandoning the life he knows to pursue something new. Mean Streets gives us an glimpse of the beginning of one of the greatest filmmaking careers in all of film history.