Il était une fois le Bronx

I have seen this movie over & over like many of the people who have reviewed it. It's true that this is loosely based on the life of Chazz (C) Palmenteri who wrote the screenplay. Word is that when he was looking to make the play into a movie, he had only one condition, that he play the part of Sonny. He was rejected several times until he found Robert DeNiro & Tribeca productions. What luck for all of us too! Chazz was born to play the role of Sonny & how refreshing to see DeNiro as the humble and hardworking father figure instead of the gangster that he has so often played.

This movie has heart & a story that is actually appropriate for young adults. Despite the language & moderate violence (such as the bar scene) there isn't anything graphic (certainly not on the scale of Braveheart or Saving Private Ryan!) and no nudity, just a good story. One of the gems is that nothing is sadder than wasted talent. Thank God that Mr. Palmenteri didn't waste his and shared this wonderful story with all of us. Unforgettable movie, a definite 10 out of 10!

A Bronx Tale does take me back to New York City in the sixties. I grew up in Brooklyn then which certainly has always had its own identity. I'm glad that Chazz Palmentiri has given the Bronx an identity of its own. There are still parts of the Bronx which have the Italian neighborhood you see depicted here. But the Bronx is a Latino majority borough now, ironic when you consider part of the story of A Bronx Tale is the racial tension between the blacks and Italians.

The movie divides in two parts, the first is around 1960 with the background of the 1960 World Series, one of the best ever played where the Yankees of Mickey Mantle lost to the Pirates in seven games. Robert DeNiro is your average Joe, a bus driver by profession trying with his wife, Katherine Narducci, to raise their son who is eight years old. Young Francis Capra who is fascinated by the gangsters hanging out at the bar down the street, witnesses the local boss commit a murder. True to the neighborhood code he doesn't snitch to the police and the local boss takes him under his wing.

Chazz Palmentiri is the boss and he's an interesting character. A man who's risen to the top of his profession, he's got a sense of himself and what it took to get there. Life is about choices, he made his and he's going with the flow, but he knows it isn't for everyone. He advises young Capra to stay in school, but the more he advises the more fascinating Palmentiri becomes to DeNiro's dismay.

The second half of the story is in 1968, the Bronx as part of America ravaged by racial tensions, assassinations and the war in Vietnam. The little boy is now teenager Lillo Brancato who gets interested in a black girl, a big no-no in the crowd he comes from, but Palmentiri is the one person who encourages the relationship. Let's just say that everything, every element of the story comes full circle on one night in the Bronx in 1968.

The comparison to Goodfellas for me is obvious. The two kids who grow up to be Joe Pesci and Ray Liotta are taken under the wing of neighborhood boss Paul Sorvino who sees them as promising gangster material and they grow into the roles. Palmentiri keeps telling the young kid here do what I say not what I do, but in the end it takes some tragic events to set him on a right path.

DeNiro who you would normally expect in the gangster role is just fine as the father, a good man, not a perfect one by any means, but just a guy trying to do right by his family. It's Palmentiri however who really steals the film as the local gangster boss who's as street smart as they come, but even with all that can't anticipate all contingencies.

Lillo Brancato who went on to several other film roles and a long running one in The Sopranos certainly in real life didn't make the same choices as his character Calogero Anello did. Life really imitated art in his life story.

Nice to see the Bronx get its due.

Oh, what a wonderfully small and intricate film this is! How I love and cherish the world I am pulled into every time I see this film. Robert De Niro's directorial debut proves strong and lively, evidenced by how he stuck to a topic close to home; a young, impressionable Italian kid growing up little Italy in the late 60's. As the naive protagonist Calogero, or 'C' as he is nicknamed, Lillo Brancato gives a great performance as a young man torn between the working-class honesty displayed by his strict father and the ruthless world of organized crime demonstrated by the neighborhood crime boss Sonny (Chazz Palminteri adapted his own play and cast himself as a burly, laid back, world weary know-it-all).

One key element that snags you in is the narration. Like equally personal films of its stature (Scorsese's gangster trilogy, "Taxi Driver," "Election," "Bringing Out The Dead", "SLC Punk!"), the voice-over guiding brings you in even further into the already detailed landscape and story presented. I don't really consider this a mafia movie, it's much more of a coming-of-age tale. However, the background De Niro provides is so intimate and thorough that you wish for another film chronicling the life of Sonny.

I have to admit that, for a debut, De Niro's judicious use of music seemed to rival that of Spike or Scorsese in turns of effectiveness. First of all, De Niro kept a much more grass roots approach, sticking to doo-wop, soul, rock, "mobster pop" (Dean or Frank) and a little jazz. Whereas Scorsese will use anything at his disposal ("Casino" had two Devo tunes in it), De Niro really seems to search for what really makes the scene. My favorite is the scoring of a street fight scene to "Nights In White Satin"... De Niro must of knew before we did it was all in the violins. De Niro said he knew this type of story had been done before and didn't want to repeat anything, so he viewed Scorsese's mobster trilogy to see what already had been done. It's obvious he paid attention.

Even De Niro himself knows a little Italy gangster film is not complete with at least a surprise-ending cameo from you know who...

A father(Robert De Niro) who stresses the importance of honest work, teaches his son values in 1960's New York as a distrusting mobster(Chazz Palminteri) also shares his perspective and becomes some what of a father figure to the kid. Faced with racism and a crime-based community, learns his own morals from a strand of tough events.

This is not the first movie I have ever seen to make the gangster out to be a some what nice guy. But this is the first one I have seen to actually make him somewhat of a saint. Sonny(Palminteri) is the example of a split personality with a criminal. He is very tough with a community that he loves and basically runs but is also very protective and guiding to many people. I found this to be quite interesting in this type of genre.

Robert De Niro's character on the other hand, is very bold. He plays the father who is concerned with his son's well being and is just your normal flat character. He was unimpressive, but effective for a movie that was by no means perfect in the first place.

The idea of this movie was what made it so intriguing. At two hours long, it consists of a large epic story of a young man trying to make it through a part of New York. Some important events were perhaps too close together but it was still entertaining and quite moving. Overall, A Bronx Tale is a fine experience of cinema with a wonderful story.

I highly recommend this movie.

Like Marty this is a masterpiece, done on less than a stellar budget. The acting is miraculous. Chazz is a genius who can write for the theater, the film and play the starring role. He is the modern personification of charisma. De Niro plays one of his most engaging and lovable roles. This, my friends, is movie making. No blue screens, no CGI, nothing but a wonderful story, brought to life, as movies were meant to be. Oh yes, the ending is perfect. Being a fellow filmmaker, I can't help but be a little envious at De Niro's first directing job. Directing is hard work, acting is hard work, to act in your first directing effort is...incredible. Well, I shouldn't be surprised. Look at the kind of actor he is. Great film, don't miss it, but please don't wait for the special effects. This is one film that doesn't need them to captivate you. 10/10