Mean Streets Podcast Review Episodes

The Bad Dads return to early Scorsese with Mean Streets, the 1973 New York crime drama that helped put both Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro properly on the map, while giving Harvey Keitel one of his defining early roles.The conversation opens with the film’s famous line: “You don’t make up for your sins in church. You do it on the streets.” From there the dads immediately spot the Scorsese DNA that would later become unmistakable in Goodfellas: Catholic guilt, low-level gangsters, bar-room rituals, restless needle drops, family obligation, small neighbourhood pressure, and men who confuse loyalty with self-destruction.Sidey walks through Harvey Keitel’s Charlie, a small-time operator caught between his Catholic conscience, his uncle Giovanni’s criminal world, and his need to look after Johnny Boy. Dan highlights Charlie’s religious conflict — the guilt, the fear of hell, and the candle-burning self-punishment — while Cris and Reegs pick up on how tight and claustrophobic th…