Product: Mean Streets (1973)
Rating: 4.0
An Influential and Highly Respected Movie.....that you may not enjoy
This movie has received tremendous praise and respect from many well-known critics and, as a measure of its ground-breaking originality, it is credited with influencing many of the most famous movies of all time, including The Godfather, Good Fellas, Casino, etc. However, if you view this expecting a linear plot and polished entertainment of the caliber of The Godfather, etc. I fear that you may be disappointed.Imagine that you had a hand-held camera and simply followed a group of your friends around as they drank, cursed, fought, chased women, and caroused for several days and nights. You had no script or plot for the majority of your "movie", but merely relied upon your friends to talk and act naturally....even if they had nothing important to say. Throw in some guilt, atonement, nudity, gunfire, and religious symbolism....and BINGO! you have a classic....IF you are Martin Scorcese AND have friends like Robert De Niro and Harvey Keitel. As for the rest of us, we would probably end up with a really lousy "home movie" that made no sense to anyone. To be honest, I feel that some of THIS movie makes no sense to most people, but it is generally riveting and has moments of grit, humor, human frailty, and soul-piercing reality that you just don't often see in ANY movie, let alone one made 32 years ago.It benefits from being viewed more than once. Some things which make no sense or escape your notice may become clearer and more evident with subsequent viewing. If you prefer more basic entertainment and feel that a movie should not require this kind of study and focus, then Mean Streets is probably not for you. However, if you enjoy being challenged by more complex, innovative cinema then perhaps this is just the movie for you.