Mean Streets laid much of the groundwork for what we now recognise as the modern-day Italian-American gangster flick. Where the previous years The Godfather took us right to the top of the Mafia food-chain, Mean Streets is arguably just as important in its portrayal of the other end of Little Italys crime spectrum the wee guys at the bottom, desperately trying to scrape a living through measly protection rackets and small-time loan-sharking. Its also tough to imagine how Martin Scorsese could have gone on to make as absorbing a piece of work as Goodfellas, had he not made this one almost twenty years previously. But in film, as in music, the most influential work isnt always the best. My point? Simply that Mean Streets is, frankly, a bit boring.
It stars Harvey Keitel as Charlie Cappa. Hes a mobster, but not a very good one. So, understandably, hes quite partial to the idea of getting out of the whole crime thing and setting up business for himself as a restaurateur. The trouble is, he feels an inexplicable sense of responsibility for his girlfriends nutty cousin Johnny Boy (Robert De Niro). Johnny keeps getting himself into soapy bubble, and Charlie keeps wading in to help him out. Unfortunately though, its pretty difficult wading in anywhere without ending up fairly deeply-involved yourself.
Notable for being Scorseses first time directing De Niro (its happened on another EIGHT occasions since then), the films one priority appears to be showing us the nitty-gritty at its very nitty-grittiest. These fellahs are wiseguys alright, but theres nothing charming about any of them. They do what they do because its in their families and they dont have much other alternative certainly not because its glamorous (in fact, youll struggle to find a less glorified depiction of hoodlum life).
Todays cinema-goer taking the opportunity to catch this one as its re-released onto the big screen may well find the film not to be what theyd expect. The story is at times tedious, the characters inaccessible, and much of Scorseses directorial approach makes it difficult to follow. At times it feels as if hes shot it with so much emphasis on conveying gritty realism, that hes forgotten to leave a little room for storytelling. Here, he was a director still cutting his teeth, and in Mean Streets it very much shows.