Mean Streets

PLOT

Charlie, a young Italian-American man in New York's Little Italy, is hampered by his feeling of responsibility towards his reckless younger friend Johnny Boy, a small-time gambler and ne'er-do-well who refuses to work and owes money to many loan sharks. Charlie is also having a secret affair with Johnny's cousin Teresa, who has epilepsy and is ostracized because of her condition—especially by Charlie's Uncle Giovanni, a powerful mafioso. Giovanni wants Charlie to distance himself from Johnny, saying "honorable men go with honorable men."

Charlie is torn between his devout Catholicism and his illicit Mafia work for Giovanni. Johnny becomes increasingly self-destructive and disrespectful of his Mafia-connected creditors. Failing to receive redemption in the Church, Charlie seeks it through sacrificing himself on Johnny's behalf. At a bar, a loan shark named Michael comes looking for Johnny to pay up. To his surprise, Johnny insults him. Michael lunges at Johnny, who pulls a gun. After a tense standoff, Michael walks away and Charlie convinces Johnny that they should leave town for a brief period. Teresa insists on coming with them. Charlie borrows a car and they drive off, leaving the neighborhood without incident.

A car that has been following them suddenly pulls up, with Michael at the wheel and his henchman, Jimmy Shorts, in the backseat. Jimmy fires several shots at Charlie's car, hitting Johnny in the neck and Charlie in the hand, causing Charlie to crash the car into a fire hydrant. Johnny is seen in an alleyway staggering toward a white light which is revealed to be a police car. Charlie gets out of the crashed vehicle and kneels in the spurting water from the hydrant, dazed and bleeding. Paramedics take Teresa and Charlie away. Johnny's fate remains unknown.

CAST

Harvey Keitel as Charlie Cappa

Robert De Niro as John "Johnny Boy" Civello

David Proval as Tony DeVienazo

Amy Robinson as Teresa Ronchelli

Victor Argo as Mario

Richard Romanus as Michael Longo

Cesare Danova as Giovanni Cappa

George Memmoli as Joey

Harry Northup as Soldier

Martin Scorsese as Jimmy Shorts

David Carradine as Drunk

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

In 1997, Mean Streets was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant"