Johnny Boy played by Robert De Niro

The entrance scene captures the heart of the movie 'Mean Streets' and at the movie's centrepiece, Johnny Boy, played by Robert De Niro, appears with a blond and brunette on each shoulder. Rolling Stones' 'Jumpin Jack Flash' plays out, capturing the volatile and unpredictable nature of the character. Not only is he a comic relief to a film which plays around the darkness of the Italian Mafia in Philadelphia, but he is also the linking and separating device between 'Charlie' played by Harvey Keital and his cousin Teresa. He is self-destructive but also destructive of others around him and this reaches a climax at the end of the film.