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A Bronx Tale
1993 121 min United States of America R 18+
★8.2
Drama, Crime
Director: Robert De Niro
🎭 Based on
«A Bronx Tale»
byChazz Palminteri
Trailers
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Description
Set in the Bronx during the tumultuous 1960s, an adolescent boy is torn between his honest, working-class father and a violent yet charismatic crime boss. Complicating matters is the youngster's growing attraction - forbidden in his neighborhood - for a beautiful black girl.
Budget:
$22M
US Gross:
$17.29M
Worldwide:
$17.29M
Starring
Robert De Niro
Actor
Chazz Palminteri
Actor
Lillo Brancato
Actor
Awards
1 win & 4 nominations total
Key opinion
A Bronx Tale is widely regarded as a masterful, personal directorial debut for Robert De Niro, noted for its authentic portrayal of 1960s Italian-American life. While it utilizes the backdrop of the mafia, critics and audiences agree it functions primarily as a thoughtful coming-of-age drama focused on morality and parental influence rather than typical genre action.
| Acting | Robert De Niro and Chazz Palminteri deliver powerful, standout performances that ground the film's emotional stakes. | |
| Direction | De Niro’s direction is precise, immersive, and captures the period atmosphere with a lyrical, classical sensibility. | |
| Screenplay | The screenplay, adapted from Palminteri's own life, provides a compelling psychological study of a boy caught between two father figures. | |
| Theme | The film succeeds as a deeply thematic character study that favors moral reflection over the gratuitous violence typical of the gangster genre. | |
| Originality | Critics are divided on the film's narrative framework: some praise it as a poignant exploration of universal values, while others view the contrast between criminal allure and honest labor as a reductive, clichéd moral dichotomy. |