Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro’s First Collaboration Remains One of the Best Gangster Movies
Before Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, and Goodfellas came Mean Streets — Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro’s first perfect collaboration.
Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro have spent the past five decades exploring the fractured psyche of damaged men together — De Niro in front of the camera, Scorsese behind it. Their collaborations stretch all the way back to 1973, when Mean Streetsexploded in theaters like the cherry bomb De Niro's character, Johnny Boy, drops in a mailbox during its opening moments. And 52 years later, this small-scale gangster drama remains one of their best collaborations. Rough around the edges as it may be, Mean Streets pointed the way towards the various themes Scorsese and De Niro would probe throughout their careers, from the insecurity of violent men to the crippling effects of Catholic guilt.
