63
Metascore
9 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 88Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertChicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertI have no reservations in describing it as a great moment in American movies.
- 88Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertChicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertTo be sure, Scorsese was occasionally too obvious, and the film has serious structural flaws, but nobody who loves movies believes a perfect one will ever be made. What we hope for instead are small gains on the fronts of hope, love, comedy and tragedy. It is possible that with more experience and maturity Scorsese will direct more polished, finished films--but this work, completed when he was 25, contains a frankness he may have diluted by then.
- 70Time OutTime OutIn the aggressive self-confidence, the use of rock music, and the perceptive observation, Scorsese reveals an anthropological feel for street life and the attitudes of male adolescence, particularly how introversion and weakness are reserved for moments with the opposite sex, kept carefully apart from the mainstream of life.
- 70The New YorkerMichael SragowThe New YorkerMichael SragowMartin Scorsese’s début feature has just the slightest bit of story line, but the movie is a fascinating portfolio piece: a black-and-white blueprint for “Mean Streets."
- 60TV Guide MagazineTV Guide MagazineThis is the ultimate student film.... The film is a creative, ultra-low-budget effort with a good sense of place and character. Scorsese presents a detailed look at the lives of these confused boys struggling to become men in an oppressive environment.
- 50The New York TimesVincent CanbyThe New York TimesVincent CanbyThe director, who also wrote the original story and screenplay, hasn't succeeded in making a drama that is really much more aware than the characters themselves. The result is a movie that is as precise—and as small—as a contact print.
- 50The A.V. ClubScott TobiasThe A.V. ClubScott TobiasThe film never jells, but it's the Rosetta Stone for Scorsese's later work.
- 50Chicago ReaderJonathan RosenbaumChicago ReaderJonathan RosenbaumMartin Scorsese's first feature (1968), set in New York's Little Italy and starring Harvey Keitel in his first role, can be read as a rather rough draft of Mean Streets, down to the use of rock music and Catholic guilt.
- 40Zina Bethune, as the girl, is believable but Harvey Keitel, as the anti-hero, is alternatively boorish or bewildered. Scorsese occasionally brings the film to life.... Generally, however, his script and direction lack any dramatic value and give far too much exposure to sexual fantasies on the part of the boy.