For his directorial debut, Robert De Niro looked to Chazz Palminteri's script (based on his somewhat autobiographical play), and the result is something very phenomenal.Using the coming of age format, A Bronx Tale is a helping of gangster movie with a few scoops of Romeo and Juliet-esque romance thrown in to tell the
story of Calogero, a young Italian kid whose loyalties are torn between his hard working, stern, but caring father Lorenzo the bus driver, and Sonny, the flashy criminal figure who operates right down the street as he grows up during the racially divided and tense Bronx of the 1960s. While the film does contain strong shades fo Scorsese (really, how could it not?) the film avoids being a clone and is instead a rich and wonderfully observed story about differing views and philosophical beliefs, and how they work (both separately and together) to shape how someone grows up, perceives the world, and lives their life. One of the particular dimensions that is really appropriate that gets dealt with is race relations, and it is here where there are some really nice and quite moving scenes, which hit harder when taken into the broader context of Calogero's life. There's some typical gangster stuff, but De Niro treats the material with just the right touch- not shying away from it, but not going overboard. I really liked these scenes, but I think I enjoyed the other stuff involving his father and the race relations a bit more. My only real complaint is that I think the latter two could have each been dealt with just a bit more. They get decent coverage, but still, the film clearly has a favorite, even if the contest is a close one. As far as performances go, De Niro is really good as Lorenzo, He brings a great sense of authenticity and wisdom, and it's neat seeing a gnagster movie where De Niro isn't a hood. Chazz Palminteri, since the material is his, was probably the only really appropriate choice for Sonny, and he too is excellent. Francis Capra is fine as the younger Caolgero, but Lilo Brancato, Jr. is really terrific, a revelation perhaps, as the older "C". For her part, Taral Hicks is pretty good as well as Jane, "C"'s potential (forbidden) love interest. The Scorsese influence is undenianble, what with the subject mattter, and especially the music choices (as well as a couple of homage scenes), but ultimately De Niro makes the film his own, and proves that, despite putting a significant amount of focus into his performances over the years, he paid quite a lot of attenton to what the crew were doing as well. It's a shame he doesn't direct more often. All in all, a fantastic film with great messages that, while not always totally subtle, never gets too preachy or overbearing. I definitely give this one a high recommendation.
August 3, 2006
