A Bronx Tale (1993)

Directed by Robert De Niro. Starring Lillo Brancato, Chazz Palminteri, Robert De Niro, Francis Capra, Kathrine Narducci, Taral Hicks, Joseph D’Onofrio, Luis Vanaria, Luigi D’Angelo, Dominick Rocchio, Clem Caserta, Eddie Montanaro, Dave Salerno, Alfred Sauchelli Jr., Frank Pietrangolare. [R]

A sensitive and sentimental coming-of-age story set in an Italian-American neighborhood in the Bronx during the 1960s. Young Calogero (played by Capra as a child, Brancato as a teenager) finds himself torn between two role models—his working-class father (De Niro) who wants the best for his son, but only though honorable and law-abiding means, and the local capo (Palminteri) who takes a liking to the kid and imparts sage “street” advice. Debuting director De Niro proves more than capable of balancing the tones, swinging between stark realities and warm nostalgia, slice-of-life humor and harsh violence, and making the mostly shopworn material (including reruns of Goodfellas’ opening act) hum with the life of a doo wop crew on every corner. But it’s Palminteri’s show; not only does he deliver a persuasive performance in his first major film role, but he was deeply involved in numerous areas of production, from casting to music cues, and adapting his own one-man play for the big screen. A little too ambitious for its own good—the sub-plots involving racial acrimony are given such a limited foundation within the context of the main characters, that they almost feel imported from a different movie—but its intimacy, playfulness, and big heart sets it apart from (and above) most of the other gangster stories from the era. Joe Pesci makes a significant cameo at the end.

83/100