Editor's Pick: “A Bronx Tale” (1993)

Published: Wednesday, May 1, 2002

The underappreciated “A Bronx Tale,” released in 1993, was Robert De Niro’s directorial debut. The story focused on an Italian youth, Calogero “C” Anello, played by Lillo Brancato, growing up in Little Italy in the late ’60s. De Niro, playing the boy’s father, acts as a convincing bus driver who attempts to guide the boy away from the local ruffians and mob life. The movie was written by Chazz Palminteri, who also costars as the benevolent mafioso who becomes the second father figure to C.

Encompassing larger themes such as racism, “A Bronx Tale” proves to be a winning story about a young man finding himself amongst the pressures of conflicting role models, his friends, and the neighborhood.

Adeptly directed by De Niro, this mobster flick presents the other side of mob-life and therefore earns today’s editor’s pick.