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Martin Scorsese and Robert Deniro are two names that almost go hand in hand and the same. Most of the movies that go with their names include "Raging Bull", "Taxi Driver", "Goodfellas", and "Casino". A movie you don't often hear with their names, besides among hardcore movie geeks, is their first time working together in a film entitled "Mean Streets" from 1973. Which welcomed Martin Scorsese as one of Hollywood's premier director and also when a rough cut was shown to Franics Ford Coppola helped land Robert Denrio his first Oscar and biggest role at that time in "The Godfather Part 2". Viewing "Mean Streets", you see what a talented, original, creative, and inspiring director Martin Scorsese really truly is. How this man, with all his great films under his belt has no Oscar to show for it is truly shocking to say the least. So many things we see in films today and have for the past three decades were started by Scorsese. This film shows just a sampling and taste of what he had in store for us over the next 3 decades. Music being used for scenes, moving movies along with speech, not plot, pacing of films, gritty and realistic speech, comedy used in films where it is otherwise not used, unique editing. All things we have seen later on from the David Fincher's, Spike Lee's, and Quentin Tarantino's of the world. They owe a lot to Martin Scorsese. I was talking so much about Deniro and Scorsese, I forget to also give credit and due to Harvey Keitel. This film is also helped jump start his film career. He stars in this film as Charlie who is trying to balance his lifetime of Catholic life and family obligation with his own needs and wants to move up through his little Italy landscape in front of him. He also has to deal with trying to help his friend Johnny Boy (Robert Deniro), who is building enemies by the day and has no control over his life or the decisions that he makes. He's very self destructive. I've always said I think acting is about 60 percent of a film, while the screenplay and director is about 40 percent. This is an example of method, intense, acting at it's finest. Harvey Keitel has the tougher role as he has to try and make sense of his own life, deal with his issues, while at the same time trying to manage and save his friend Johnny Boy. He has to play the straight laced and more reserved role. So he has to hold back on a lot of stuff and refrain. He does it and does it very well. Deniro on the other hand has the fearless, vulnerable, and in a sense naked role of the film. He's clearly insane, but also at times comes off charming, cunning, and sly. Deniro would later go onto play all out mad man in "Raging Bull", and quiet but then striking rage with "Taxi Driver". Here Deniro is not afraid to let himself be out there and also never lets you know what is going on with him, and inside of him. He's clearly a mystery, and it keeps us always on our toes and interested in what he has to say or what he's up to. He's not just a clueless putz, there is more to him then meets the eye. A lot of the film was done improv style as Scorsese wanted New York to seem authentic and get the dynamics between all of them. The best moments of the film are when Keitel and Deniro go back and forth with each other and bounce speech off the walls. You get to see two of America's finest actors doing what they do best. A lot of the way they talk, interact is funny, unique, and darkly different. We would see speech like this in future Scorsese films and films in general. The random talk. Also, worth noting is a fight scene at the pool hall with everyone. This is not flashy, gory, or stylish. It's real men fighting. Sloppiness, things falling over, missed punches, and awkwardness. No one becomes a UFC style fighter during this and starts kicking ass. Scorsese makes the fight seem comedic unwittingly as these grown men fight in a way you would see at your local bar when a few people had too much to drink. I can't say "Mean Streets" is a great film, but I will say it's a good film. It's worth seeing for what it started and what it would lead to later on in the movies. It was the start of something big. See some of the early touches of greatness with "Mean Streets". email this review to a friend
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