Mean Streets (1973)

Mean Streets follows Charlie, a devout but guilt-ridden small-time hood in New York City’s Little Italy, as he tries to climb the mob ladder while balancing loyalty, love and conscience. Charlie works for his uncle Giovanni collecting debts, dreams of owning a neighborhood bar with friends Tony and Michael, and is secretly involved with Teresa, Johnny Boy’s epileptic cousin — a relationship Giovanni disapproves of. Johnny Boy is a reckless, near-psychotic free spirit who continually creates trouble and owes money, forcing Charlie into increasingly impossible choices between protecting a friend, pursuing status, and doing right by the woman he loves. Watching the film you’ll get a raw, street-level portrait of 1970s Little Italy: intimate, tense, and morally complicated. The story is character-driven rather than plot-heavy, built from fights, confrontations, awkward loyalties and small, decisive moments that push Charlie toward a grim, almost inevitable outcome. Expect gritty realism, bursts of violence, dark humor and emotionally charged scenes that make you sympathize with flawed people who can’t fully escape the world that shaped them. It’s an immersive, uneasy experience about loyalty, ambition and the personal cost of life in the mean streets.

Actors: Robert De Niro, Harvey Keitel, David Proval

Director: Martin Scorsese

Runtime: 112 min

Genres: Crime, Drama, Thriller

6.8 /10 96 /100 7.2 /10 7.9 /10