Movie Review: A Bronx Tale

A Bronx Tale

I found Robert De Niro's directorial debut one mob film I could stand. Most of the genre just strikes me as silly. I mean how long can anything last where people get killed over trivia? This tale of a kid who decides not to rat on the neighborhood mobster explores much of the side many of the others gloss over. How kids sometimes wander into that lifestyle and how someone can steer them in or out.

Sonny (Chazz Palminteri) befriends the kid and has him work in his bar serving drinks and rolling dice. His dad (De Niro) finds out and tells him to stay away, but the kid remains fascinated.

The story meanders into the lives of the main character in unexpected ways. Some of the timing of events, what they call continuity, jars. Like one day where a fight breaks out between local hoodlums friends of the main character and some local black kids. Then the kid is riding in the car with his mob buddy who decides to take him to lunch, it just appeared the fight happened in the afternoon so it makes for a convoluted day.

Lots of concepts at odds in this film; mob versus clean life, African-American versus Italian-American and the central theme fear versus love.

Bandon has the DVD and it shows a VHS but I can't figure out if you can hold that copy or not.

IMDB http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106489/
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