A Bronx Tale is the first film directed by Robert De Niro, and it's a quietly effective low-key drama about gangsters. It is unique among crime films in that the protagonist is neither a mafiaoso or a law enforcement agent, but an average Joe. This is the only film that shows what it might be like to grow up in neighboorhood where having the mob living next door was a fact of life.
The screenplay was written by Chazz Palmentari, who in addition to adapting his own play to the screen portrays the gangster, Sonny. The film is a battle of wills and ideas between Sonny and Frank (De Niro), over Frank's son, Calogero (played as a child by Francis Capra and as a teenager by Lillo Brancato). Calogero is fascinated by Sonny- he drives the coolest car and everyone treats him like royalty. By the same token, Sonny, who is unmarried and has no children, becomes a second father to the boy.
What makes A Bronx Tale so interested is that you think you know where the movie is going, and then you are wrong. The film is not about a choice between Sonny and Frank that Calogreo must make as much as it a portrait of what it's like to be young and grow up in the environment, and about the stuff that you believe when you are a teenager. Many times the movie does not go in the obvious direction- we are surprised when Sonny tells his surrogate son that he should not follow in his wise guy footsteps, and when Frank is revealed as a racist. It is interesting that both men have Calogero's best interests at heart, although each despise each other. They two men share a mutual hatred possibly because each has what the lacks- Frank has integrity and Sonny has success.
This is a strong directorial debut for De Niro, who is widely considered (get ready for the cliché) the Greatest Actor of His Generation. Although his style is not surprisingly heavily influenced by Martin Scorsese, De Niro brings a sort of calmness and to the material that is appropriate. You would have little idea that the movie was based on a play, because it is not stagy and a moves and feels like a film. The entire cast is excellent, but particular credit must go Palmentari, who creates a very complex character that is more like a fallen knight than the stereotypical gangster.
The movie does have some problems, namely that at times it is at times too obvious about its ideas and that it's first part (where Calogero is a child) drags a little. But this is an impressive film, and it's surprising that De Niro has waited until this very year to follow it with another.
A Bronx Tale (1993)