Mean Streets

Day 184 - 7/3/09 - Movie #184

BEFORE: As long as we're up late, and roaming the gritty streets of NYC...let's make it a Scorsese double-shot (also 3rd film in a row with De Niro + Keitel, but who's counting?). I remember a lot of people requesting this film when I worked in the media lab at the NYU library - I never really saw the appeal, but I never took the time to watch the movie either. It was just sort of always on in the background.

THE PLOT: A small-time hood struggles to succeed on the "mean streets" of Little Italy.

AFTER: Jeez, and I thought "Taxi Driver" didn't have much of a narrative - this one has even less! It's like a slice-of-life look at the NYC underworld, through the eyes of some street toughs. It's a world of gambling, loan sharks and bar fights, and the plot rambles from place to place with little point, like drunks stumbling from bar to bar.

RATING: 4 out of 10 pool cues

DENIR-O-METER: 5 - De Niro's Johnny-Boy owes a lot of debts, especially to Harvey Keitel for carrying most of the movie. There are signs of life late in the film, but nothing can excuse that awful "Prince Valiant" haircut.