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Mean Streets

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Mean Streets

R

Released Jan 1, 1973

1h 52m

Crime

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

92%

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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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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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Colin Bennett

The Age (Australia)

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.

Sep 24, 2024

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Kevin Maher

Times (UK)

Freeze frames, casual violence and conversation are there in service of a story about two apprentice hoodlums...

Feb 1, 2024

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Kristin M. Jones

Wall Street Journal

For all its raw, exhilarating energy, it’s a film that can always break your heart.

Dec 5, 2023

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Wael Khairy

The Cinephile Fix

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.

Mar 10, 2025

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Katie Hogan

FILMHOUNDS Magazine

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.

Rated: 3/5

Jan 22, 2024

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Danielle Solzman

Solzy at the Movies

Martin Scorsese made two feature films before this one but Mean Streets would really be the one that placed him on the map.

Rated: 4.5/5

Dec 29, 2023

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Audience Member

Nice historical piece showing the origins of the director's style. Scenes and dialogue sometime feel random and unimportant (like: what did I just watch and why?). An interesting first stepping stone in the dark world of American thugs living in the 70s.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

04/10/25

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thiago s

Filme mais ou menos, o roteiro é fraco, o filme tem cenas mais ou menos, mas a história é meio chata e desinteressante, o elenco é bom e alguns ajudam a melhorar o filme, mas não o suficiente para ser bom.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

03/16/25

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Eye C

Well, if Seinfeld is the TV show about nothing, then Mean Streets is the movie about nothing. A group of Italian-American "kids" have a great time at the bar, the movies, at the parties and in the streets of New York, and there's always the bad seed, the good for nothing, here with the face of Robert De Niro, who puts the others and especially the Catholic Charlie, with the face of Harvey Keitel, and that's that, seeing the misadventures of these individuals until the words The End come out. Of the first works of director Martin Scorsese, and it shows, the performances are not the best, I think those who do it best are the main ones, but what is terrible is the editing and the extras, but hey, it's the third one, so it's understood.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/25/25

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Dallas H

There is something unique and special about Scorsese's early films. I like this film, Mean Streets. The casual delivery of the dialogue and interactions between the characters feel real, tangible, and natural.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/16/25

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Scorsese's Taint 2

4.5. Excellent film but at no point did the streets show any emotion. Should've recast the sidewalk especially.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

10/01/24

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ed m

Good, not great. Unlikable characters. Flat dialogue. Not Scorsce's best.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

09/02/24

Full Review

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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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