Product: Mean Streets (1973)
Rating: 5.0
'Charlie Likes Everybody. Everybody Likes Charlie.'
Ah yes..the film that started a collaboration for the books. 'Mean Streets' paired a young director and a young actor who shared the common goal of looking to get their big break.Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro together for the first time.This movie started a relationship that spans eight films and sparked creative genius from behind-the-camera as well as in front of the camera that has yet to be duplicated.'Mean Streets' offers a little insight into a world that's both fascinating and dangerous, thanks to Scorsese's semi-autobiographical references he incorporated into this film.Harvey Keitel plays a young Italian named Charlie. As Johnny-Boy so eloquently puts it, "Charlies likes everybody. Everybody likes Charlie." He struggles to live his life with some degree of normalcy, but immediately feels the pressures of his Little Italy neighborhood. He feels he has to save Johnny-Boy from a life of gambling and heavy debt, but when he can't, the climax begins to unfold. A far cry from his 'Sport' characterization in "Taxi Driver," Harvey Keitel gives a great and sympathy-evoking performance.Robert De Niro plays Johnny-Boy, Charlie's childhood friend who's a bit unbalanced and a lot in debt. This role here offers a foreshadowing in the roles that good 'ol Bobby D. would later become famous for. ::Ahem:: 'Travis Bickle' in "Taxi Driver." Johnny-Boy is enjoyable, from his entrance into Charlie's bar right up to the climatic end (I'm not giving it away.)De Niro is astounding, and I'm not saying that just because he's my favorite actor on the face of this green earth. He's really captivating. It's extremely hard to take your eyes off of him because of his character's unpredicatability. All I could say when I finished watching this movie was.."WOW.."If you're a Scorsese fan,get this film. If you're a De Niro fan, get this film. If you're both, get this film....If you want to see where genius comes from, get this film.Oh yeah!! And keep you're eyes peeled for a cameo by Scorsese.