Rating of
3/4
Cue Van Halen's Mean Streat...from '81
Gabe - wrote on 02/05/15
In only his third full-length feature film (non-documentary), Martin Scorsese already is using the tropes that would come to define his work, NYC, the mob, De Niro. It's a film about small-time hustler Charlie (Keitel) who's just on the verge of making it big in the local mob-scene, but is tied-up with the exploits of the no-good Johnny (De Niro, with weird long hair).
The film drags at times, but the ending is quite powerful. Some questions I want answered: Was Charlie in on the whole thing? Did his uncle set them up? Does Johnny die?
Also, the soundtrack is killer, the opening credits with the Ronettes' Be My Baby is classic, I also love the use of early Rolling Stones. Another thing the Scorsese would come back to, the Stones.
It's an interesting film, especially when one puts it into context of what was to come in the decades to follow.
