A Bronx Tale

In 1960, nine-year-old Calogero Anello and his parents, Lorenzo and Rosina, live in Belmont, a neighbourhood of the Bronx populated mostly by Italian-Americans. A working-class neighbourhood, its peace is often perturbed by the presence of the Mafia, led by local boss Sonny LoSpecchio, who is loved but also feared by the residents and whose character is admired by local children including Calogero.

One day, as he is sitting on his building's stoop, Calogero witnesses Sonny shoot and kill a man who was assaulting his friend after a road rage incident. Police later questions Calogero, but he keeps quiet, which draws the sympathy of Sonny and of his henchemen, who offer Lorenzo, a Surface Transit bus driver, a better paying job. Lorenzo politely declines and instructs Calogero to stay away from Sonny and his crew, who spend most of the time at the bar down the street.

Calogero ignores his father's advice and befriends Sonny, who nicknames him "C" and gives him tips for his subsequent work at the bar and part of his earnings from craps. When Lorenzo finds out Calogero has saved over 600 dollars, he lashes out on him and Sonny, who initially threatenes retaliation but later leaves him be because of his admiration for Calogero, which continues to see him.

Eight years later, seventeen-year-old Calogero is both still seeing Sonny and part of an Italian-American boys gang, composed mostly of his friends and which Sonny dislikes, considering that Calogero should not live a life of crime like he does. One day, as they sit by their bar, Calogero's friends attack a group of African-American boys their age who are riding their bikes. Calogero tries to stop them, but fails amid a police incursion and is forced to run, leaving the boys injured on the street.

Earlier, Calogero met an African-American girl, Jane, in his father's bus and later approaches her at school, setting up a date. A happy but cautious Sonny lends him his car and gives him some advice, but when Calogero and Jane meet, Calogero finds out one of the boys attacked by his gang is Jane's brother Willie, who accuses him of beating him up. Calogero loses his temper and calls him a "nigger", which he instantly regrets and leads Jane and Willie to leave.

A distraught Calogero returns Sonny's car and walks home, where he is confronted by Lorenzo for driving Sonny's car and not listening to him. A verbal fight starts between them, leading Calogero to storm out, where he's instantly repelled by Sonny and his henchmen, who confront him violently over a bomb which was earlier placed on Sonny's car. Feigning innocence, Sonny lets Calogero walk away. He soon meets his friends, who want retaliation on the African-American boys, which they claim they have egged their bar. Calogero joins them albeit fears this may go wrong, but is pulled out their car by Sonny before they arrive.

Calogero, Sonny and his henchmen arrive back at Sonny's bar, where one of the henchmans tells Calogero that Jane has been searching for him. Calogero rushes and meets Jane a few blocks away. She tells him that his brother later admitted Calogero tried to help him and the two reconcile and later kiss. Calogero remembers his friend's plan and the two drive to Jane's neighbourhood, which is blocked by the police, firemen and a huge crowd. Calogero and Jane meet Willie, who survived the attack of Calogero's friends, who all lay dead on the street.

It turns out that Calogero's friends performed a drive-by-shooting before throwing Molotov cocktails into their shop. As the shop burns down, one of the African-American boys picks up an unexploded Molotov and throws it through an open window of their car, setting it on fire and leading to its explosion after several other cocktails in the car explode simultaneously. Calogero, happy to be alive, leaves Jane and Willie and rushes back to Sonny's bar. As he forces his way through the crowd, he sees a suspect young man approaching, but fails to warn Sonny. He is shot in the back of his neck by the young man, which is later revealed to be the one placing the bomb on Sonny's car and the son of the man Sonny killed eight years before in Calogero's sight.

At Sonny's funeral, Calogero remembers all of Sonny's advices about people around him and concludes that the biggest loss in life is wasted talent. As he pays his final respects, a man named Carmine approaches him and reveals he is the man Sonny helped in the road rage incident, while also saying he's filling in and if Calogero ever needs help, he can find him by the bar. Calogero thanks him, but says that he will try to move on. Carmine respects his wish, presents his offer again and leaves. Lorenzo later enters the chapel, much to Calogero's surprise, and admits he never trully hated Sonny, but resented him for making Calogero grow up so quickly. The father and the son reconcile over all the dismay Calogero brought on Lorenzo and they walk away together.

• Robert De Niro as Lorenzo
• Chazz Palminteri as "Sonny"
• Lillo Brancato Jr. as Calogero (age 17)
• Francis Capra as Calogero (age 9)
• Taral Hicks as Jane
• Kathrine Narducci as Rosina
• Clem Caserta as Jimmy "Whispers"
• Frank Pietrangolare as Danny "K.O."
• Joe Pesci as Carmine
• Alfred Sauchelli Jr. as Bobby "Bars"
• Robert D'Andrea as Tony "Toupee"
• Eddie Montanaro as Eddie "Mush"
• Fred Fischer as Joe "Jo Jo the Whale"
• Dave Salerno as Frankie "Coffeecake"
• Joe D'Onofrio as "Slick" (age 17)
• Louis Vanaria as Mario "Crazy Mario"
• Sobe Bailey as Willy, Jane's brother
• Domenick Lombardozzi as Nicky "Zero"

The film is based on Chazz Palminteri's original play of the same name, which was performed as a one-man show, largely based on his own childhood, specifically the shooting that Calogero witnesses as a child, as well his father's occupation and name.

In 1990, at a performance of A Bronx Tale, Robert De Niro met with Palminteri in his dressing room after seeing the show. De Niro told Palminteri, "This is one of the greatest one-man shows I've ever seen, if not the greatest.... This is a movie, this is an incredible movie." After acquiring the rights to create the film, with De Niro claiming the deal was made solely with a gentlemen's agreement with Palminteri, the duo began crafting the screenplay. Prior to partnering with De Niro, Palminteri rejected several offers for the film's rights, including some as high as $1 million, because he was not granted the roles of primary screenwriter and Sonny, the gangster whom Calogero meets. De Niro met Palminteri's requirements to be allowed to direct the film and to play Lorenzo, Calogero's father, which Palminteri accepted.

Theatrical

The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 14, 1993. It was released in the United States on September 29, 1993.

Home media

HBO Video released the movie on VHS on April 6, 1994, and in 1998 on DVD. In January 2010, Focus Features released a DVD copy of the film exclusive to online retailer Amazon.

Box office

A Bronx Tale opened in 1,077 theaters, with an opening weekend gross of $3.7 million. It went on to make $17.3 million domestically.

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 97%, based on 36 reviews, with an average rating of 7.5/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "A Bronx Tale sets itself apart from other coming-of-age dramas thanks to a solid script, a terrific cast, and director Robert De Niro's sensitive work behind the camera." Metacritic gave it a weighted average score of 80 out of 100, based on 15 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.

Critic Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film four stars out of 4 and called it "very funny [and] very touching. It is filled with life and colorful characters and great lines of dialogue, and De Niro, in his debut as a director, finds the right notes as he moves from laughter to anger to tears [while] retaining its values."

In 2008, the American Film Institute nominated the film for its Top 10 Gangster Films list.

To celebrate the 30th anniversary of A Bronx Tale in 2023, Tribeca Productions, with technology and distribution partner Giant Pictures, undertook a 4K digital restoration of the film. The original negative was provided by the Harry Ransom Center film archive at the University of Texas at Austin, which houses the Robert De Niro collection. The film master and audio were digitally scanned and restored to create an ultra-high-definition 4K version of the film. The digital coloring process was handled at Goldcrest Post in New York and was personally overseen by director Robert De Niro. The restoration took 9 months to complete.

Coinciding with its 30th anniversary on September 29, 2023, Tribeca and Giant Pictures released the 4K version on UHD Blu-ray in the US, as well as on video-on-demand platforms, including Apple TV and Vudu. Titled A Bronx Tale (30th Anniversary Edition), the release showcases the new restoration in Ultra High Definition Dolby Vision and Dolby TrueHD 5.1 Surround sound. The UHD Blu-ray edition includes new interviews with director and star Robert De Niro and writer and star Chazz Palminteri, reflecting on how the film has become a beloved classic, as well as recalling the original production process, how the screenplay was adapted and the authenticity of the film's characters.