Mean Streets | Rotten Tomatoes

Mean Streets

R

Released Jan 1, 1973

1 hr. 52 min.

Crime

Drama

List

94%

77 Reviews

Tomatometer

84%

50,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

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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Charles K

The movie lacked a story. 20 minutes in, I was still searching for a point. Halfway through, I was still searching for a point. When it ended, all I thought was "what just happened and why did it take two hours". The style was good, the picture was good, and I did like the characters. The story just didn't go anywhere which was a shame. I didn't exactly expect a masterpiece, but I expected a decent movie all around and I guess I somewhat got that.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

03/12/24

Full Review

Alexsander F

Para um filme de estreia é um bom filme, com bastante camera na mão e ideia na cabeça, mas é um filme bem fora da caixinha, recomendo só a quem é fã do Scorcese mesmo a vê-lo.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/31/24

Full Review

Luca D

Visually and audibly pleasing at best. The story has lots of dead ends and really is not interesting at all. Fun to watch but just a bunch of characters yelling, fighting, and not really developing. Would not recommend watching if you think it's going to be a masterpiece. It's more of a entry into the playing field for Scorsese. Clearly not a very developed story. More just a showcase of style. Besides that the acting and cinematography is really good. Just lacks a story which had me irked the whole time watching.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

12/10/23

Full Review

Rob E

Boring. Don't waste your time, watch Goodfellas instead, but not the Irishman. Mean streets is rubbish but not as bad as the Irishman. I had to up my score to one star when I remembered how bad the Irishman was. p.s. My wife thought the Irishman was better, even though we couldn't bear to watch it all the way through. She said mean streets was the worst film she's ever watched from start to finish.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

11/27/23

Full Review

Mark C

Truly terrible. No direction and a complete waste of time.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

11/30/23

Full Review

Dylan M

De las mas flojas de Scorsese, aun asi es buenisima

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

10/05/23

Full Review

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Martin Scorsese

Director

Robert De Niro

Johnny Boy Cervello

Harvey Keitel

Charlie

Richard Romanus

Michael

Amy Robinson

Teresa

David Proval

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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

Full Review

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

Full Review

Michael Sauter

Entertainment Weekly

Harvey Keitel is clearly Scorsese’s protagonist -- as well as his on-screen surrogate. But as good as he is, the movie gets stolen by De Niro’s wild and crazy Johnny Boy.

Rated: A

Oct 10, 2023

Full Review

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

Full Review

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

Full Review

Jeff Beck

The Blu Spot

The film comes up a little short when it comes to its screenplay, which doesn't provide quite enough development for these storylines or characters, ultimately making this early work of the master filmmaker one of his more forgettable efforts.

Rated: 3/5

Nov 20, 2023

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
Executive Producer: E. Lee Perry
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
Sound Mix: Mono

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