Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1242 in DVD
• Released on: 1998-05-27
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Live, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English, French
• Dubbed in: Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 121 minutes

Amazon.com
Chazz Palminteri wrote the script for this excellent story of an Italian American boy (Lillo Brancato) who grows up in the 1960s caught between the strong influences of his blue-collar, straight- arrow father (Robert De Niro) and a Mafia chieftain (Palminteri) who is his all-purpose mentor. De Niro makes his directorial debut with this production and, except for a little stiffness, does very well by the characters and their world. The story does not go precisely where one might expect it to go: Palminteri knows better than to force the central figure to choose between the two most important men in his life, and he doesn't fill time with stock drama about crime or family conflict. Joe Pesci makes an extremely effective and uncredited appearance at the end as a man who doesn't have to do more than speak softly to communicate how dangerous he is. --Tom Keogh

From The New Yorker
"It was 1960, and doo-wop was the sound on the streets." The opening voice-over establishes the point of view of Robert De Niro's début as a director: an excitable nostalgia, which turns thugs into demigods and workingmen into heroes. The plot turns on the tussle for a boy's soul: De Niro plays Lorenzo, whose son Calogero is spending too much time with a local hood named Sonny (Chazz Palminteri) and his band of merry men-Tony Toupee, Eddie Mush, and so forth. Everyone here is a bit of a character, an O.K. guy; the whole movie is built from this well-meaning shorthand, with an oldies soundtrack to boost the mood. The tale was originally written by Palminteri as a five-minute monologue, then grew into a full stage performance before becoming a screenplay; by now it feels tired, and you can't help feeling that the material has already been worked to death onscreen. On the plus side are Sonny's reverse-driving skills, and a silky, striking performance by Lillo Brancato as the teen-age Calogero. -Anthony Lane
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker

Customer Reviews

Very Satisfying!
This film is an underrated gem. If you're looking for a bloodbath mobster movie, this is not it. A Bronx Tale is a movie with heart--and it just so happens to be about mobsters.

Kudos to Robert De Niro on his directorial debut (may he direct many more movies). He did an outstanding job of presenting a slice of life in the Bronx of the 1960s. Though his role as Lorenzo Aiello is rather small, its effect is felt profoundly throughout the movie as Lorenzo's son Calogero struggles between right and wrong. Lorenzo, representing the upstanding, hardworking Everyman, wants the best for his son and doesn't want him to choose life with the mob. Sonny, the neighborhood mob boss, also wants what's best for Calogero, or C, as he nicknames him. The moment in the film where this struggle is most keenly felt is when Lorenzo and Calogero are at the boxing match sitting in the "nosebleed" section. One of Sonny's henchmen invites Lorenzo and Calogero down front at ringside, but Lorenzo declines the offer. You can see how hard it is for Calogero to refuse those seats. But he is torn by the love he feels for his father, and wanting to be ringside with Sonny. The most poignant moment is when he apologizes to his father for wanting to sit with Sonny and tells Lorenzo that he appreciates his seat, though it's far away from the ring.

Another interesting, though more subtle, aspect of the movie was how Rosina, Lorenzo's wife, questioned Lorenzo's refusal to get involved with Sonny. You could see that she wanted a better life than the wife of a bus driver, and she didn't seem to be too concerned with how it was achieved. That would have been an interesting angle to explore, but the movie didn't suffer because it wasn't explored.

The element of racial tension and the inclusion of an interracial romance for C gave A Bronx Tale a more gritty feel. It wasn't hard to boo C's knuckleheaded friends as they harrassed blacks who passed through "their" neighborhood. The romance between Jane and C was tastefully done, and the actors who played the roles gave authenticity to the sweet, awkward relationship. Remember Sonny's door test? Well, I was practically praying and crossing my fingers that Jane would unlock that door!

But the film belonged to Francis Capra (young Calogero) and Chazz Palminteri (Sonny). The nine-year-old Capra was so convincing as a child who was perplexed by the difference between good and bad and all the gray areas in between. Palminteri really shines as Sonny, the suave but dangerous hood. The film is based on his childhood, and I think he did a wonderful job (along with De Niro) of bringing the story to the screen. Useless bit of trivia I read on another site: Palminteri's real name is Calogero Lorenzo Palminteri.

Real Life of Lillo Brancato has Turned Tragic
I am writing this long overdue review shortly after the real life arrest of Lillo Brancato in the connection of a murder of a New York City police officer. He played the young man in this splendid movie which deserves to be seen by everybody. It is a beautifully written and acted production. Brancato portrayed so accurately the challenges of a young Italian-America youth being raised among the gangsters in his blue collar community. I always wondered why he virtually disappeared. Brancato's small role playing a cheap gangster on "The Sopranos" didn't even begin to equal what had earlier been expected of him.

Robert Di Niro is fantastic as the father, a proud bus driver, trying to make sure his only son remains a law abiding citizen. Chazz Palminteri is likewise brilliant playing the role of the neighborhood Mafia chieftain. He also wrote the spellbinding script. "A Bronx Tale" apparently was only modestly successful. I simply cannot understand why it isn't considered as one of the very best movies of that time period. This is a family movie. Anyone who is a teenager or older should enjoy it immensely. You truly feel like you are visiting the 1960s. It is a warm and loving story about choices that must be made early in one's life. Lastly, why hasn't Di Niro directed more films? You would think that this particular work of art might encourage the great actor to work more often behind the camera.

A First Class Story Line!!!!!! 5 Star performances by all!
What riveting performances Palminteri and De Niro Turn in on this excellently written (by Palminteri) and scripted film. Palminteri's performance will have you spellbound from his very first scene until his tragic final one. De Niro does an excellent job of directing here. De Niro also paints a very impassioned and sympathetic picture of an Italian father (the role originally played by Palminteri on Broadway) fighting desperately to win his son back from a ruthless, but charming mobster. De Niro is truly the greatest actor of all time. Another standout is Lillo Brancato as De Niro's confused but basically good son Callogero, torn between the mentoring of criminal Sonny and his dad, Lorenzo. One of the greatest movies of all time. Definitely worth watching and rewatching over and over again. Truly a first class movie all the way!