A Lot or a Little?
What you will—and won't—find in this movie.
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Positive Messages
some
Be your own person and don't give in to peer pressure and the bad behavior of friends and others in a community.
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Positive Role Models
a lot
Lorenzo does his best to be a good father and role model to Colgero, and tells him how bravery is not in the actions and behavior of the mob guys who hang out on the street corner, but in working people who get up each day and earn a living to provide for their families. Colgero learns not to hang out with friends who are increasingly engaging in ugly behavior.
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Diverse Representations
a little
The movie is set in the 1960s in Bronx at a time when racial tensions are running high. As Colgero falls hard for Jane, an African American girl who goes to his high school, the two emerge as individuals who are products of where they grew up, but do their best to avoid the increasing ugliness of the tensions surrounding them.
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Violence & Scariness
a lot
A man is shot in the head and killed on the street, seemingly over an altercation over a parking spot. Colgero's friends from the predominantly Italian neighborhood, upon seeing African American teens riding their bikes in the neighborhood, become enraged and knock the kids off their bikes and beat them up. These same friends of Colgero's decide that they're going to drive into the nearby Black neighborhood and throw Molotov co*cktails into the barber shop and record store, and after they burn those businesses down, they accidentally kill themselves by setting themselves on fire while in their car. A brutal beatdown of the members of an obnoxious motorcycle gang by mafia guys -- beer bottles to the head, beatings with pipes and bats. A character is shot in the head and killed while in a bar. One of Colgero's questionable friends brags about how he knows if a girl is worth dating or not by grabbing her head and forcing it into his crotch as a way to coerce oral sex.
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Sex, Romance & Nudity
very little
Making out between lead character and his new girlfriend.
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Language
a lot
Strong language, including the "N" word, "f--k," and "motherf--ker." Colgero's White teen friends refer to African Americans as the "N" word. Also: "bulls--t," "s--t," "p---y," "ass." Middle finger gesture.
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Drinking, Drugs & Smoking
a little
Drinking in a bar.
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Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that A Bronx Tale is a 1993 coming-of-age movie based on a play in which a teen boy is caught between the love he has for his honest, hardworking father and the temptations offered by the local mob boss. There's violence throughout, including a scene in which the lead character's racist friends attack a group of Black teens riding through their neighborhood on bicycles. Mob guys are shown beating up the members of an obnoxious biker gang -- beating them with bottles, bats, pipes, smashing their faces against the bar. A character is shot in the head and killed in a crowded bar. These same racist teen friends of the lead character decide to make Molotov co*cktails, steal a car, and go into a nearby African American neighborhood and set fire to a barber shop and record store before accidentally burning themselves to death. A teen brags about how he knows if a girl is worth dating or not by grabbing her head and forcing it into his crotch as a way to coerce oral sex. White characters use the "N" word -- the movie is set in the 1960s as racial tensions are boiling over. Strong language throughout, including "f--k" and "motherf--ker." To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails.
What's the Story?
In A BRONX TALE, Calogero (Lillo Brancato) is a boy growing up with his mother and hardworking bus driver father (Robert De Niro). While Calogero's father, Lorenzo, tries to teach him right from wrong, Calogero can't help but be fascinated by Sonny (Chazz Palminteri), the neighborhood mob boss. After Calogero witnesses Sonny shoot and kill a man on the street but refuses to rat Sonny out, Sonny takes a liking to Calogero, calling him "C," and paying him good money for odd jobs, much to the chagrin of Lorenzo. While Lorenzo preaches to Calogero that real men work hard for a living and take care of their families, "C" finds himself more drawn to Sonny, who has life lessons of his own to impart to the now teenager. As Calogero goes through high school, the friends he grew up with are increasingly getting up to no good, and when he becomes smitten with Jane (Taral Hicks), an African American classmate that he first sees on his dad's bus, it happens at a time when racial tensions in the area are high. As Calogero's friends become increasingly dangerous and violent, Calogero must learn to apply the good advice he has gotten from both Lorenzo and Sonny and stand on his own two feet.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about A Bronx Tale as a coming-of-age movie. How is it similar to and different from other films about growing up?
How are Lorenzo and Sonny shown to be two very different men, and how do they appear as role models for Cologero as he becomes a teenager?
How did the movie try to convey what life was like in the Bronx in the 1960s?
