Well acted, great local scenes of The Bronx, plausible. Good story. De Niro is fantastic in a different sort of role as a hard working, earnest, honest bus driver just trying to show his son a decent way to live. Parmentieri is fantastic as the local crime boss-very believable.

Deals with good/bad themes, easy money vs.integrity & hard work, racism & racial clashes in the paradigm of The Bronx.

Great musical score.

A Bronx Tale is a story of Chazz Palmentari's life as a kid in the Bronx. 9 year old Cologerlo lives in an apartment. He rides the bus route with his farther every day. He usually sits on his stoop with his 2 best friends Slick and Mario. Even though he loves talking with his friends he also loves trying to imitate Sunny (Chazz Palmentari). Sunny is a local gang member that hangs out at the bar 2 doors down. Even though Cologerlo always imitated him Sunny never looked at him, until one day. Cologerlo was sitting on his stoop when 2 cars pull-up to the same parking space. They start to exchange angry words when one guy gets out of the car and starts beating him with a baseball bat, until Sunny shoots him dead. Cologerlo witness everything. His farther takes him upstairs and quicker than you can say uh the police where at his door. The police knew he saw everything so they take him downstairs outside. The whole neighbor is watching. There are 7 men lined up on the corner. The police man asks did this guy do it and he says no. They through the list, but when they get to Sunny the church bells rings. The police man asks did he do it. Cologerlo looks at his father then at sunny, and then says no. After that Cologerlo life changes. He starts to get respect and all because of Sunny.

This is just such a good movie! You just really don't need to know anything except to see this movie!

I was greatly surprised to see how many stars this film recieved by viewers, it certainly does not deserve such applause. "A bronx tale" is basically a tale about a typical Italian american boy growing up in the 60's ,who is mentored by a mobster. This underworld figure demonstrates a set of morals and he cares deeply for "calogero", who later in his teenage years falls in love with a black girl. His mentor, played by Palimentieri, teaches him that true love is all that counts. The plot means well, but the acting is awful and the message is not believeable.
Never, ever, in the 1960's would a large number of whites, regardless of how they earned a living, demonstrate such understanding. The film has an agenda and the role of the mobsters are incidental to the central point, which is calogeros' eventual love for the girl. Lilo Brancato and the characters of his friends display an incredible lack for acting. The writing is bad and the characters stiff. It is known that Robert deniro only dates women of color, and although there is certainly nothing wrong with that, his desire and predilection seem to dictate the direction of this movie. It is not moving, but rather offensive. Italian americans are overwhelmingly portrayed as dopey , all of them having a cross dangling from their necks. No, I did not like this movie. I grew up in Queens during the 70's. I am an Italian american who grew up in an Italian neighborhood.I found this film reeking from steriotypical ideas of what New Yorkers were like. The writing was awful and I cant stress how bad the acting is. I also do not believe the movie was completely based on the play, it was rewritten to fit personal profiles. The movie was insulting and false. A figment of Deniros idea of entertainment. He should have stuck to playing roles where he does what he does best, curse and swear.

My daughter and I watch A Bronx Tale at least twice a week. I have loved this movie every since I first saw it on AMC. Chazz Palaminteri and Robert De Niro both did great jobs, as well as all of the other actors. Robert De Niro plays a bus driver named Lorenzo Anello. He and his wife Rosini and their nine year-old son, Calogero are living in the bronx. Calogero is fascinated by mobster, Sonny, who is a fixture in their neighborhood. Lorenzo is trying to keep his son away from people like Sonny, but the young boy ignores his dad and befriends Sonny. Calogero witnesses Sonny doing something that he refuses to admit to the police. A bond is thereby created between the young boy and the mobster.
I like how Sonny teaches his young friend, Calogero, who he gives the nick-name of "C" to not try and live the same life that he is living. He tells him to stay in school, stay away from bad company, and know who your real friends are. Calogero loves his father, who is also teaching him to be respectful and hardworking, but he also looks up to Sonny, and picks up a lot of "street smarts" along the way.

"You open the car door for her and then you walk around the back of the car to see whether or not she unlocks the car door for you, that's how you tell whether or not she's a good girl." That may not be the exact quote, but you get the gist. If you didn't know that was the world's perfect litmus test before seeing the movie, you have the most amazing ah ha moment when you first here it explained in the movie. And when you start to think about it, that's when you remember, he's right. This is a great movie!

This is one of my all time favorite movies! My friend made me watch it and I wasn't too thrilled about it. I read the back of the case and thought it just wasn't my kind of movie. Totally wrong! This movie is pretty much amazing!!! Now all my friends have watched it and not one can say they didn't enjoy it. Watch it! I swear you'll like it!

Adapted from a one-man show written and performed by Palminteri, De Niro's directorial debut resembles another coming-of-age New York mafia drama: "Goodfellas." But "Tale" is more nostalgic and less brutal than Scorsese's film, telling the simple story of a teen whose respect for his father's principles conflicts with the allure of a gangster's swaggering charm. Anchored by two excellent performances from De Niro and Palminteri, the film examines issues like family bonds and loyalty in the context of the socially turbulent '60s, when racism and xenophobia were rife--all underscored by C's fledgling romance with a black girl (Taral Hicks). De Niro has a real feel for period details, too, which gives additional lift to this absorbing character study.

You'll love A Bronx Tale too! A little less shoot em' up and drug laced. But a great coming of age a la' mafia style flick!

my brother was looking all over for this movie and couldn't find it. i found it on here and bought it immediately. he converted it a mp4 video so now he can take it wherever he wants on his ipod.

This has to be one of the best time period movies ever made. I have not known anyone who didn't agree with this opinion. The acting is great as is the directing and story line. The moral message is very clear and to the point: "We must all make life choices and live, (Or die), with the consequences"

The action is continuous and riveting; you will not want this movie to end. The characters are real and grow on you. The humor is ethnic, as is the premise.

It is obviously based on Chazz's experiences growing up in the Bronx.

I highly recommend this movie.

Phillip A. Purpura

It's a little slow, a bit methodical, and quite purposeful in its story-telling, and I LOVED EVERY MINUTE OF IT... This is Robert DeNiro's directorial debut, and its a winner! I credit a strong assist to Chazz Palminteris touching screenplay.

For me, the charm of this movie was watching DeNiro play AGAINST type as a regular-guy, a working-class dad trying to protect his son from the lure of local mob-boss Chazz Palminteri. And, so soon after seeing him in Goodfellas as mob hitman Jimmy Conway.

The winning formula here is making Palminteris Sonny LoSpecchio easy to root for. He doesn't encourage DeNiro's son (Lillo Brancato-- now grown up with his own real-life problems) to follow his lead; he really tries to steer him clear of the life he leads, but does teach him some heart-warming lessons along the way. DeNiro's Lorenzo fears he is losing his son, but the more he fights for him, the more he risks pushing him away... I file this under A slow burn.

robert deniro and chaz palmenteri are genius in this movie, it has everything, love, drama and a little bit of interacial love......... I highly reccomend this movie, you will love this I had the vhs tape back in the day then bought the dvd a few years ago.... a must have.

One of the forgotten greats! A lot of people have either not heard of this film or have passed it up? Why?...... Maybe the title sounds dull?....or maybe it just didn't get any buzz going? Whatever the reason, it is a great film and shows another side to the mob and much more. The film is set in the 60's and they really bring you back to that time and my own childhood! Well done! Lillo Brancato's resemblence to Robert DeNiro is amazing and makes it totally believable that he is DeNiro's son in this movie! Too bad! I have heard Brancato has gotten into some pretty bad trouble with the law recently. I would have liked to see him do more than his brief role on the Sopranos. If you love The Godfather,Goodfellas and Casino you should love this too! Not as much violence,but there is alot more going on here than just "crackin' heads wit baseball bats"! This should not be missed! The DVD is good, but is a bit grainy. This deserves a deluxe makeover!

Robert De Niro's directorial debut is a great movie and very under rated. The man has proved himself a genius in the acting field and in this film shows his talent in film making.
Great cast and awesome soundtrack.
A touching story showing life in the bronx from both the point of view of the working man and from that of the criminals who live the good life.
The story deals with the issues of the honest life vs the criminal world and gives an insight into the rough world of the Bronx in an era when it was cut off from most of New York.
Chazz Palminteri gives a wonderful portrayal of Mob boss Sonny, both likeable and at times chilling. You find yourself caught between liking him and fearing him and this aspect comes into the story which involves the son of a working class man befriending a mob boss and being torn between the worlds of his two role models.
The sub plot involves love between races and the tension between the African and the Italian Bronxites.
A fine movie which makes my top films of all time.

Great movie well done acting i can never get enough of this movie turly wonderfully amazing... romace, action, drama it has it all...

Get this movie for your DVD collection

I have watched this movie quite a few times, since it came out. I think the movie has a great story. The acting is excellent, and it reminds me of watching a Martin Scorcese movie.

The story of a mob boss and hard working father battling over a son's future. Includes some interesting characters and a well done set. Also, music is included in the movie well. Starting with The Same Ol' Song and Dance by Frank Sinatra.

Well worth seeing! and the star of the film, probably wish he didn't try to live out the life of a gangster in real life.

This is a semi autobiography of Chazz palminteri who wrote this movie based on his play.the most interesting part to me was Calogero's racist friends Slick and Crazy Mario they chased that bus and they got worse as teenagers.Sonny was a better friend because he and C weren't prejudiced.But great music,songs and scenes in this movie I was totally intertained.

No need to write a novel, dope movie, and i believe DeNiro's directorial debut(great job indeed)...Story of a Bronx kid who's seen alot and experienced more of the NY Gangster lifestyle by meeting Mob Boss Sonny, who is despised by his pops(deniro) for the simple fact that he's connected...DeNiro plays a worrysome father, but you can't blame the guy, anyways watch it and buy it.PEACE. DENIRO IS NOT IN GOODFELLAS MODE, SO DON'T EXPECT THAT ROLE.

This was the third film in 1993 that had De Niro as a major character, the others being "Mad Dog and Glory", and "This Boy's Life". Here we have his first directorial outing. It was a very good film, and another about a teenager choosing a life, but it was rather violent.

it was december 10 a saturday night the actor who played sunny n the bronx tale was involve in robbery along with someone else they both tried to break in to someone's house and a cop tried to stop them but the other robber not the actor shot at the cop and he was later announced dead he was only 28 years old it is sad because the guy who starred in the bronx tale was young as well he had everything going from him from adequate looks to his acting ability he was also in a movie with denzel washintgon and gen heckman that was another successful flick what makes this news more surpising the actor and other guy is looking up to anywhere from 25 years to life in prison 10 years ago sunny was trying to send a message to all the teenages on earth which was to don't waste your talent or god will take it away here he is in his 30 years may never be on the big screen again because of him following someone

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.

This film is a great Mafia related movie that belongs in any Cosa Nostra collection. Even with the boring love story hidden in the script, the overall acting by De Niro and Chazz P. is awesome. Gives a real great feel for life in the Bronx during the late 50's early 60's, and also has an astounding soundtrack. The movie is violent but in a good way, without any blood and guts. A great organized crime feel. The only disappointment is that you never find out what Mafia family Chazz P.'s character, Sonny, belonged to. Plus you get a cameo of Joe Pesci.

With Bob De Niro and Chazz Palminteri staring in a mob movie, you know it has to be good. Written by Palminteri, "A Bronx Tale" is the story of a boy going up in the Bronx of all places who toys with falling for the "glamore" of mob life or staying straight and living a clean and good life like his father. With Machiavelli Philosophy and "The Test" this movie is sure to entertain.

A couple years ago Chazz Palminteri came to my school to talk about this movie, his life, and hollywood in general. He basically does a one-man play version of this movie by himself, and that is what caught De Niro's eye. Many people could easily get confused that because De Niro has his name all over the film, that it is his work of art. It is actually about Chazz's life as a kid and has nothing to do with DeNiro. I would easily recommend this movie to anyone because it deals with so much in a few short hours.

Note: During the speech that Chazz gave, he claimed that indeed, he believed that if the girl did not reach over and open the car door for the guy than she wasn't a good catch.

Robert De Niro stars in, and directed this incredible movie! If you like mob movies, you have to see this one. The acting is absolutely top-notch, from everyone in this film, and the story is unforgettable! This is an absolute must-see movie! I hope they come out with a special edition DVD soon, this movie deserves the best picture and sound quality possible!

Robert de Niro dared to mix several layers of universal myth and he served it on the rocks. Romeo and Juliet with an Italian, what's more white, who falls in love with a black girl who lives not nextdoor but rather next-neighborhood, with an unspecified and unsignaled no-trespassing line between the two neighborhoods. West Side Story with a bar in its center and bands of young rogues, whites on one side and blacks on the other side. The Godfather too is not very far, even if it is on a smaller scale. A Sicilian protects his neighborhood against dangerous outsiders and looks after daily problems to keep the police out of them. He is going to be the unofficial godfather of a young boy who does not tell the police what he knows about a murder that happened just under his nose. And there we have the famous situation for a boy to be divided between his real father and his godfather. Divided allegiances. The voice of your blood versus the voice of your mind or your soul. What happens when the son gets entangled in some silly situation and gets redressed by both his real father and his godfather, especially when his real father wants to confront the godfather for the hard redressing he just gave his son, and this godfather refuses the confrontation, and he is on his way to salvage the son, like some piece of expensive property, from a doomed adventure that has absolutely no common sense in it. Hard when the real father is rather against a black girl friend and the godfather is rather for it if it is love and nothing but love, and he gives him some advice how to check if it is a real love affair. But nothing is eternal and the past always catches up with a vengeance. How can you speak the truth when it is too late and you never had the courage to speak it before the lethal accident ? It's hard to speak to a corpse but if he is your godfather, speaking to him will necessarily bring something good, because this godfather is very close to God at this very moment, bargaining some favor for his godson in exchange of some years in Purgatory or even in Hell. Only godfathers know we can bargain with God. This vision of society cannot work if you do not have in your mind the concept of a protector of some type, the protector of the neighborhood, the protector of the child, the protector of life, the protector against any kind of danger coming from outside (be sure Hell's Angels are not exactly welcome on this block), etc. Some will say this is feudal or medieval, but it sure is comfortable and reassuring to know their is a strong tree against which you can lean.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU

This picture works out as a real modern fable. And this atmosphere is maintained all along the story through the eyes of a simple child who observes both universes: two opposite visions about the life. His father is a honest man who works hard to survive driving a bus and Chaz Palmitieri a charismatic mobster who bets and plays hard in his domains, a violent man who is captivated by this boy in a clear allusion to his frustrated paternity and the inability to establish himself as a normal husband. Somehow he assumes to Calogero as a protégée.
The time comes and others problems will appear when Calogero is in love with a black teenager. The racial issue will be other tension element in this well built movie that seems improving through the years.
De Niro made a honest and convincing tale about the options in the life: easy money or hard work.

De Niro directs this. It is not perfect, but it is old and the budget is some restrained considering. It is nowhere near anything like Goodfellas, but works like Carlito's way. This film has smarts but it is old, independent and the film transfer is not perfect. Not everybody in this film is a professional actor, including some of the leads, making it a mixed bag at times, but none the less has its moments, and all these mobster movies are about those moments, and to be honest this can stand along side something like Casino from Scorsese no problem because of that.

Chazz Palminteri who you know from The Usual Suspects, wrote the story about a boy who grows up between his straight family and the crooked mafia, learning the ropes from both, it is all about choices and consequences, and as others have rightly noted, whole heaps of morality minutes, as killer gangsters try to tell a kid how to hit on a girl, there are some background stories to this plot that work out quite well, not as soppy as let's say Steven Spielberg started tugging your heat strings with John Williams standing in the background with a violin, but it ain't as if Joe Pesci's Tommy would be teaching us how to dance if he didn't have a gun.

It is worthy of any collection, but just don't go breaking out this DVD as the best mob movie ever. It is a long shot away from the classics but isn't as garbage as say Sly Stallone trying to do the mobster thing. Now there is 1, 2, 3 star territory.

This film is way too superficial and phony. It tries to "moralize" too much, and none of the characters comes across as believable. One of the worst movies of all time.

Hey if you loved this movie then you'll be happy to hear that Jimmy Whispers starred in his own movie, a spinoff of A Bronx Tale entitled "Jimmy Whispers Returns to Mulberry Street". The movie follows Jimmy after his days with Sonny and is now available on DVD! check out the official website, jimmywhispersactingschool.com

If you're used to seeing Robert Deniro as the tough guy gangster then get ready for a change. In this film Deniro is just a working stiff trying to raise his kid the right way. His son however, is fascinated by one of the local mob bosses (Chazz Palminteri). In this story set in the Bronx (circa 1960's) Lorenzo Anello (De Niro) desparately tries to keep his son Calogero on the straight and narrow. He tries to explain that the guy who gets up and goes to work every morning is the tough guy, not the guy who takes what others have by force.


Lillo Brancato who plays the 17 year old son is quite the find here. This was his acting debut and he has gone on to do other films since. Originally, this was a one man play written by Palminteri and the story is based on the events of his youth.

Eventually, the mob boss, who can't afford to trust anyone, turns on Calogero even though he loves the boy like a son. It is then that the teenager understands that his father told him the truth. Later in the film though, Calogero's life is saved because of the mobster. When Calogero goes to find his friend and thank him, things take a turn for the worse.

This is Deniro's directorial debut. Who knows better how to direct a gangster film then someone that's been in some of the best crime dramas of all time. Yes, he still has much to learn but still and all, it's a fine effort. Deniro made excellent use of the music of the day. Especially memorable is the bar scene where the gansters beat up a motorcycle gang and during the fight you can hear "The 10 Commandments of Love" playing over the visuals.

As with most gangster films, there is a lot of foul language and violence here but no nudity or sex.

This should be part of your collection if you are a fan of the genre.

I do not agree that this is deNiro's best performance. Raging Bull, The Godfather and Goodfellas were all beter parts and also better movies. The story is not bad, though the maffia characters are a little over the top. The man who always loses bets is funny, but out of place as well.

The story is both about the maffia in the Bronx but also about race relations in 1968 and therefore also worth watching.

See this if you have already seen Goodfellas, The Godfather and all the other maffia movies, if not: them first and then think again.

A Bronx Tale is a fine film about a kid growing up under two competing influences. There's his father, an honest and hard-working bus driver; and then there's Sonny, a local mafioso who is slick, charming and seems to have everything in life. The movie deals a lot with moral choices and values and manages not to belabor its points. The ending is pretty moving; the magnitude of what happens is not lost on the characters, just as it's not lost on us.

The one drawback to the film is that it could have been even more compelling than it is. Despite the power of the storyline, and the love and care that De Niro obviously put into making the film, A Bronx Tale never goes that extra mile to greatness. It never totally comes alive or totally pulls us in; there's something still missing that could have given it more force.

This was not a great movie like everyone thinks it is. I really didnt get into it. I thought the actors portrait of "the mob" was not right at all. Very Very off.