A Bronx Tale (1993)
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An Italian-American boy in the Bronx must navigate the allure of the Mafia while balancing his father's honest values and the tensions of his community.
The story
In 1960, nine-year-old Calogero lives in a working-class Italian-American neighborhood in the Bronx. He becomes fascinated by the local Mafia presence led by a boss named Sonny. After witnessing a violent act by Sonny, Calogero is caught in a tug-of-war between the lucrative but dangerous world of organized crime and the law-abiding life championed by his father, a bus driver. As Calogero grows older, he continues to navigate these conflicting influences while facing the complexities of his community's racial dynamics and the personal consequences of his choices.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
In 1960, nine-year-old Calogero lives in the Bronx and becomes enamored with the local Mafia boss, Sonny. After witnessing Sonny kill a man, Calogero is befriended by the boss, who offers him a life of easy money, while his father, Lorenzo, insists on a life of honest work. Eight years later, a 17-year-old Calogero is still involved with Sonny's circle and faces the consequences of his actions. He enters a complicated romance with an African-American girl, Jane, amidst high racial tensions. After a series of escalating conflicts involving his friends and a retaliatory plot, Calogero finds himself in a life-threatening situation. He eventually discovers that his friends were responsible for a fatal explosion, and he later learns that Sonny was killed by the son of the man Sonny had protected years prior. At Sonny's funeral, Calogero meets Carmine, the man Sonny saved years ago, who takes over Sonny's role as a mentor. Lorenzo finally acknowledges that he never hated Sonny, but only resented him for making Calogero grow1grow up too quickly.
- First release year
- 1993
- Runtime (minutes)
- 120
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Robert De Niro
- Writers
- Chazz Palminteri · screenplay
- Cast and characters
- Robert De Niro · Lorenzo; Chazz Palminteri · Sonny; Lillo Brancato; Taral Hicks; Kathrine Narducci
- Genres
- coming-of-age; crime drama
- Themes
- coming-of-age; organized crime; father-son relationships; racial tension; loyalty
- Tone and mood
- dramatic; poignant
- Premise and plot tags
- Italian-American culture; urban crime; moral dilemma
- Source material / true-story basis
- Chazz Palminteri's 1989 one-man play
- Reception
- The film received positive critical acclaim, particularly for the lead performances, and helped establish Robert De Niro as a director and Chazz Palminteri as an actor.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 97% · scale: percentage · review count: 36; Metacritic · score: 80 · scale: 100 · review count: 15
- Production trivia
- The screenplay was based largely on Chazz Palminteri's own childhood.; The film underwent a 4K digital restoration in 2023.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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