The usual glitz and glam of gangster films is in the far distance in this gritty street gangster film from martin Scorsese. It's a film that cemented not only Harvey Keitel as a cult gangster actor, but also Robert De Niro as a firm Scorsese favourite. Keitel plays Charlie, a low down hood who dresses well and is keen to impress his boss in order to forge a career for himself and to make some money 'above board'. His attitude is very good as he constantly fears being sent to hell - he doesn't particularly like violence yet can't escape the career he has chosen to be in. Collecting money for someone isn't the most glamourous of professions, but when one of his ...  Read the complete review

Mean Streets is not among Martin Scorsese's best known films, but it is a seminal work in the gangster genre, and without a doubt one of his greatest accomplishments. It is an incredibly gripping and authentic work that draws from Scorsese's own experience, while wrapping this in an engrossing mob story, where mobsters aren't just high-flying hotshots, and the reality of this scenario is a lot more grim. Robert DeNiro cements his working relationship with Scorsese here, playing Johnny Boy, a rather impulsive and idiotic gangster who is going the right way to get "whacked". Meanwhile, this is juxtaposed with Charlie (Harvey Keitel), an honest Catholic ...  Read the complete review

I enjoy watching films, but I don?t like paying lots for the privilege! So when I arrived here at uni, top of my list of societies to join was Film Soc who have weekly screenings of a wide range of films for just £2. Bargain! It is through this that I have watched some films that I would never have thought of going to see, the latest being Mean Streets. When I saw this on the listing I checked on imdb to see what it was about, and just read as far as ?Scorsese? and ?De Niro?. Ahhh, I thought, Mafia film. My friend was pleased as she had not even seen Scorsese?s better-known ...  Read the complete review