Line #30 Film/ABronxTale


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/abronxtale.jpg]]
2
3	->''"The saddest thing in the world is wasted talent."''
4	-->-- '''Lorenzo Anello'''
5
6	''A Bronx Tale'' is a 1993 film directed by/starring Creator/RobertDeNiro and written by/starring Creator/ChazzPalminteri, based on the latter's own childhood experiences. The film is a touching, heartbreaking ComingOfAgeStory... with gangsters. Trust us, it's ''way'' better than it sounds from that description.
7
8	The story begins in the Belmont section of [[UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity the Bronx]] in 1960. The main character is Calogero Anello, the nine-year-old son of Lorenzo Anello (De Niro), a poor second generation Italian-American who drives a bus in New York's mass transit system for a living. This lets the Anello family scratch out a living, but although Calogero loves his father and is treated to sermons from his father about both how to live an honest life and how "the saddest thing in life is wasted talent," the man Calogero really admires is Sonny [=LoSpecchio=] (Palminteri), the tough and intelligent mobster who runs the neighborhood and is rapidly shooting up the ranks of TheMafia.
9
10	Naturally, both of Calogero's parents disapprove of this (especially his painfully honest, straight living father), but nothing they do can stop Calogero's fascination with Sonny, the other neighborhood mobsters, or their hangout bar, which is just a couple of places down the street from his own house. Still, Sonny never notices Calogero or the other neighborhood boys that imitate the gangster... until the day when two men pulling into a parking space at the same time get into a fight, one of them [[BatterUp pulls out a bat and attacks the other with it]], and Sonny shoots the bat wielding assailant... right in front of young Calogero.
11
12	Following the street ethics of his neighborhood, Calogero lies to the police and refuses to identify Sonny as the shooter. A grateful Sonny asks to meet Calogero, and quickly takes a liking to the kid, and soon begins to take him under his wing and treat Calogero like a son, including giving him the nickname C. It isn't long before Sonny and Lorenzo have a tense confrontation about C's time hanging out with Sonny, as Lorenzo fears that it will influence C into embracing the mob lifestyle. Following this a wary truce begins, with both Lorenzo and Sonny influencing and guiding C into adulthood.
13
14	[[TimeSkip Fast forward 8 years]]. Lorenzo is still driving a bus for the city, Sonny is now a boss, and C is 17 and has spent nearly half his life reaping the benefits of being, for all intents and purposes, like an adopted son to Sonny. In the meantime C's relationship with his father is growing ever more strained, especially as C continues to admire Sonny and soak up input from his friends that have formed their own "social club" and act like a minor league mafia. What's more, C's friends are in the middle of starting a mini race war with the black teenagers from the next neighborhood over. This is something C wants no part of, since 1) both his father and Sonny are fairly tolerant people and have passed that along to him and 2) C is in the middle of falling for a black classmate, Jane Williams.
15
16	Soon events are racing to a head. As all these threads come together and the film heads for a climax, Calogero must start making some tough choices about his life, and try to deal with events that will leave most of the characters changed, and more than a few dead...
17	----
18	!!This film contains examples of:
19
20	* TheFifties: The Bronx is still in the thick of this era in 1960, and elements of it linger all the way to 1968. (For one thing, doo-wop on the street corners remains popular.) Calogero {{lampshades}} this during his narration.
21	-->'''Calogero:''' There was change everywhere, but my neighborhood was the same.
22	* TheSixties: Exemplified by hippie bikers and soul music (in 1968). And the racial unrest...
23	* AcceptableBreaksFromReality: Many a New Yorker got a [[http://www.nytimes.com/1999/09/24/nyregion/police-are-criticized-for-responding-more-slowly-to-911-calls.html?pagewanted=1 long]], [[http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2009/08/03/2009-08-03_calling_these_precincts_is_a_waste_of_your_time_news_finds_long_waits_when_diali.html dark]] laugh from the police banging on the Anello's door within seconds of the shooting. However, since waiting hours for them to show up doesn't make for riveting film...
24	* AdaptationExpansion: Chazz Palminteri (who plays Sonny) originally wrote this as a one man play. The movie expanded on that play, and the eventual [[Theatre/ABronxTale musical version]] contains a few extra pieces of information and expansion that were not in the movie.
25	* AffablyEvil: Sonny is a pretty nice guy as long as you don't piss him off. His presence also keeps the rest of the gangster being fairly NeighborhoodFriendlyGangsters, especially when you think about what they'd be like without him. (Jimmy Whispers, for example, is often seen asking Sonny if they should let loose a little DisproportionateRetribution for minor slights.)
26	* AllBikersAreHellsAngels: Justified in this case, as that's what the motorcycle toughs actually are.
27	* AntiVillain: Sonny, of course. He's a pretty nice guy as long as you don't do anything to anger him or hurt the people in the neighborhood and stresses to C that he only does what he does because he has to. He's even shown to [[PoliticallyCorrectVillain be pretty progressive in regards to race]], encouraging C to pursue a relationship with Jane despite what the rest of the neighborhood feels about black people.
28	* ArcWords: The saddest thing in the world is wasted talent.
29	* AsHimself: The guy playing Eddie Mush, the unlucky jinx who always loses bets, was Eddie Montanaro the real-life version. True to form, on the first day he showed up on the set, it rained.
30	* AssholeVictim: [[spoiler: C's friends all died horribly from a Molotov cocktail, however considering all of them are racist {{Jerkass}}es they all had it coming.]]
31	* AuthorAvatar: C is a fictionalized version of Chazz Palminteri, whose childhood experiences make up most of the film. Note that Chazz's real first name is also Calogero.
32	* AxCrazy:
33	** C's friend Mario, who is even called Crazy Mario in the neighborhood.
34	-->'''Sonny:''' Mario? Mario's a psychopath. Why do you even listen to that kid?!
35	** Slick is probably even crazier, seeing as he acts as the leader of the group and instigates everything. At one point he talks about a kid that owes him money that he wants to beat up and when C reiterates the advice Sonny gave him earlier when he faced the same situation, Slick tells him he'll beat up the guy anyway.
36	* BadassBookworm: Sonny. Badass enough to be a Mafia boss, bookworm enough to read Machiavelli in jail.
37	* BadGuyBar: Chez Bippy, the bar Sonny's crew usually hangs out in.
38	* BaitAndSwitch: One of the first scenes shows bus driver Lorenzo in a BattleOfWits with some kids trying to hitch a free ride on his bus. It initially seems like the young narrator is one of those kids, but he's actually Lorenzo's son.
39	* BegoneBribe: How Sonny encourages Calogero to reinterpret an unpaid debt: "He's out of your life for twenty dollars. You got off cheap."
40	* BerserkButton: Sonny will ''not'' tolerate any disrespect: towards himself or his neighborhood.
41	* BigApplesauce: Though since it's the Bronx, you don't see any of the usual landmarks.
42	* BigNo: Calegero when he sees [[spoiler:Sonny getting whacked.]]
43	* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Calogero makes peace with his dad and finally starts using his head to think for himself, but his friends are all dead, Sonny has been shot and killed (leaving the local Mafia under the control of much less Reasonable Authority Figures), and the future of his relationship with Jane is uncertain at best.]]
44	* BlackGalOnWhiteGuyDrama: This is an important subplot. Calogero, a teenager from an Italian neighbourhood in the Bronx falls in love with Jane, a black girl from his high school. Their relationship remains a difficult topic because of the tumultuous 1960s setting; C keeps it a secret from his friends because they're all viciously racist, and he gets a bottle thrown at his head by a black teenager when he ventures too far into Jane's neighbourhood. C's father is a ''lot'' less racist than C's friends, though he says he doesn't believe in interracial relationships. Interestingly, C's mentor Sonny (a mob boss) actively encourages C to pursue it. Jane later rejects him when she discovers C's friends beat up her brother Willy, though he didn't join in. They reconcile by the end.
45	* BreadEggsMilkSquick: A classic example from young Calogero: "[[{{Confessional}} It has been one month since my last confession]], and these are my sins: [[BreadEggsMilkSquick I missed Sunday Mass twice... I lied about witnessing a murder once. I ate meat on Friday...]]" Priest: "Wait. Can you back up a bit?"
46	* BrokenPedestal[=/=]RebuiltPedestal: C loses some of his respect for his father as a teen due to the fact he insists on keeping his honest living even though the family isn't as well off as others in the neighborhood. He then stops hero-worshipping Sonny after [[spoiler:the latter accuses C of being part of a plot to assassinate him and he realizes his father was right about Sonny not being able to trust anyone.]] By the end of the film, he regains his respect for Sonny [[spoiler:after he saves C's life]] and he makes up with his father after realizing how dangerous Sonny's life is and [[spoiler:witnessing Lorenzo pray for Sonny's soul at his wake]]
47	* BullyingADragon: Protip: trashing a Mafia bar is not the best of ideas. Or as Sonny put it [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_lijLYuw-o "Now youse can't leave."]]
48	* ButForMeItWasTuesday:
49	** At the end of the film, Sonny [[spoiler:is shot by the son of the man he murdered in front of C]], long after he, and the audience, had forgotten about it.
50	** Discussed by C in the final line. While the events of the film were a big part of his life and shaped his entire character, the people in the neighborhood consider everything "just another Bronx tale."
51	* ButtMonkey: Eddie Mush (and Frankie Coffeecake, to a certain extent).
52	* TheCameo: Creator/JoePesci makes one in one of the very last scenes of the movie as Carmine, [[spoiler:the guy who was getting hit with the bat in that fight]]. Surprisingly his trademark HairTriggerTemper is absent in this character.
53	* CassandraTruth: Lorenzo's warnings to Calogero about Sonny, especially "They don't love him; they fear him," and "Sonny can't trust anyone." Calogero never stops hero-worshipping Sonny despite those warnings, even when Sonny himself confirms that Lorenzo was absolutely right.
54	* CatchPhrase: Two stand out: Lorenzo's "The saddest thing in the world is wasted talent", and Sonny's "Nobody cares".
55	* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: Calogero's mother, when the film jumps to 1968, she is not seen again for the remainder of the film.
56	* ClusterFBomb: A whole lot of dialogue, especially Sonny's.
57	* ComingOfAgeStory: Although it is almost always mislabeled as a Gangster flick.
58	* CoversAlwaysLie:
59	** Both the VHS/DVD cover and [[NeverTrustATrailer the trailer]] overplay the Sonny/Lorenzo conflict, and make it seem like the film is going to focus on the two trying to influence Calogero, leading up to a big confrontation. The focus is actually on Calogero growing up and having to choose between the advice that the two of them give him, with no face-off occurring whatsoever. In fact, Lorenzo and Sonny only share two scenes in the entire film, and one of those lasts about 30 seconds. Calogero also notes that his father and Sonny never spoke once during the TimeSkip.
60	** Then you have the background cityscape of Manhattan in the cover art, which is never in any part of the movie's plot. The prominent image of Calogero [[OutrunTheFireball running away from an explosion]] makes it look like some kind of action flick, rather than the crime drama/coming of age story that it actually is.
61	* CruelAndUnusualDeath: [[spoiler: Being trapped in a car and burned alive is definitely not a nice way to go, however much C's friends may have brought it on themselves.]]
62	* CurbStompBattle: Sonny's gang versus the bikers.
63	* DamnItFeelsGoodToBeAGangster: C thinks so from what he sees, despite Sonny's attempts to convince him otherwise.
64	-->'''Sonny:''' First of all, I respect you, Lorenzo, you're a stand-up guy and we're from the same neighbourhood, but don't ever talk to me like that again. I tell your kid to go to school, to go to college...\
65	'''Lorenzo:''' You don't understand: it's not what you say, it's what he sees, the clothes, the cars, the money, it's everything.
66	* DeadpanSnarker: The young Calogero shows signs of this. The teenage C, not so much.
67	-->'''Lorenzo:''' You stay away from that bar. You don't see me going to the bar do you?\
68	'''Young Calogero:''' You mean Mom won't let you go either?\
69	'''Lorenzo:''' What am I gonna do with this kid?
70	* DeathByRacism: [[spoiler:C's friends, and ''especially'' Slick, die because of their hatred of black people. They get blown up by their own molotov cocktails after a black guy throws one back at their getaway car.]]
71	* DeliberateValuesDissonance: 1960s attitudes regarding race are a major factor in the movie's conflict.
72	* DidntThinkThisThrough: Mario rolling a Molotov cocktail instead of throwing it, [[spoiler: which enabled one of the Black gang members to throw it back at their getaway car, causing an explosion that killed Mario and the rest of C’s friends]]
73	* DiggingYourselfDeeper, coupled with NotHelpingYourCase: When Jane confronts C over the beating her brother Willy and his friends took from C’s friends, C lies and says he wasn’t there to save face. Willy then steps in and [[BlatantLies points the finger at C]] who saved him from getting killed. Jane is angry C lied and things get so heated C shouts the ‘N’ word, causing Jane to get teary-eyed.
74	* DismissingACompliment: When C tells Sonny he's always right, Sonny says that if he was, he wouldn't have spent ten years in prison.
75	* DoNotCallMePaul: Calogero gets the nickname "C" from Sonny and ends up being called that by everyone, except his father, who will not do it. And Jane, who likes "Calogero" better. [[spoiler:When he and his father reconcile at Sonny's wake, his father finally calls him C.]]
76	* TheDragon: Jimmy Whispers to Sonny.
77	* TheDreaded: Sonny and he even discusses this trope, saying that if you have to choose, it's better to be feared than loved and he's aware even those who are genuinely loyal to him are also kept in line by their fear of him. However, he is savvy enough to know that the key is not to be hated or to push people to the point that they feel they have nothing to lose in standing against him and he makes a point of avoiding pointless acts of petty cruelty or throwing his weight around needlessly.
78	* EvenEvilHasStandards: Sonny is a ruthless career gangster who commits severals crimes as part of his job, but he expresses a dislike for Slick and Crazy Mario for being AxCrazy psychopaths who cause trouble just for the hell of it.
79	* EvilParentsWantGoodKids: C isn't actually Sonny's son but Sonny treats him like one and makes it clear that he does not want C to become involved in mob life.
80	* EvilVersusEvil: The conflict between C's friends and the black teens is this as both sides are racist {{Jerkass}}es who antagonize each other and create an EscalatingWar.
81	* FirstKiss: C apparently does one with Jane. She just smiles, and tells him that was not a real kiss, then [[ForcefulKiss plants a real one on him]].
82	* {{Foreshadowing}}: Sonny tells C that his friends are either gonna wind up dead or in jail. [[spoiler: It's the former.]]
83	** C gets a bottle lobbed at his head by one of the residents in Jane's predominantly black neighborhood. [[spoiler: His friends]] get their own Molotov Cocktail bottle tossed back at them when they attempt to start a fire in the same neighborhood and are burned to death.
84	* FormerlyFit: Slick is a tall and thin seven-year-old but is noticeably chunkier than his friends at seventeen.
85	* FreezeFrameBonus: If you watch the scene where C witnesses Sonny killing a man closely, [[spoiler:you can see that the guy who gets hit with the bat is Creator/JoePesci.]]
86	* GangOfHats: Mario and the other neighborhood delinquents are a literal example.
87	* HoistByHisOwnPetard: [[spoiler:C's friends]] are killed by a CatchAndReturn of their own [[spoiler:MolotovCocktail]].
88	* HollywoodGeography: In the opening, Calogero refers to his neighborhood as the "Fordham section of the Bronx". The area where he lives (south of Fordham University, north of 183rd Street between Third Avenue and Bronx Park) is actually referred to as "Belmont" while "Fordham" is used to refer to the area immediately west of it beginning on Webster Avenue (Jane's neighborhood).
89	* HoldingHands: C tries to go for this awfully quickly...
90	* HonorBeforeReason:
91	** Lorenzo refuses any money from Sonny, even low-risk "nobody gets hurt" jobs that Sonny offers him out of gratitude for Calogero keeping quiet, and does not even want Calogero hanging out with Sonny.
92	** C’s friends drag him along to attack a local hangout for black people with Molotov cocktails. While he wants no part in it, he’s hesitant to get out of the car is it would ruin his reputation in the neighborhood and brand him a coward. [[spoiler:Fortunately, Sonny shows up and takes him away.]]
93	* {{Hypocrite}}: When C’s friends are driving to commit a hate crime, they have [[Music/JimiHendrix Jimi Hendrix]] playing.
94	* HypocriticalHeartwarming: Sonny's lecture to Calogero about guns and gangsters. "Don't do what I do... This is not for you".
95	* IDidWhatIHadToDo: Sonny's reason to C why he got mobbed up and why the gangster life wouldn't be the best path for C to take.
96	* InformedFlaw: Tony Toupee supposedly insists on singing all the time despite being a terrible singer, but in all of his scenes, he's either staying quiet or being drowned out by a voiceover.
97	* {{Irony}}: Lorenzo is wary of Calogero's relationship with Sonny, convinced it will lead to his son's death. [[spoiler:It actually winds up ''saving'' Calogero's life as Sonny stops him from going along with his friends to attack the black neighborhood, which led to their deaths.]]
98	* LeftTheBackgroundMusicOn: During the BarBrawl with the bikers, the soundtrack abruptly changes from "Come Together" to "Ten Commandments of Love" just as one of Sonny's henchmen slams a biker into the jukebox, suggesting that those tracks were being played on that jukebox.
99	* LonelyAtTheTop: Sonny is well aware that everyone in the neighborhood, including his crew, treats him so great either out of fear or personal gain. [[spoiler:The only people who show genuine sadness at his wake are C, Carmine, and Lorenzo.]]
100	* LoveAtFirstSight: Or at least crush at first sight.
101	* MachiavelliWasWrong: Sonny seems to be one of the few movie villains who actually ''understands'' Machiavelli and the advice he gave. Sonny read ''Literature/ThePrince'' in prison and takes its lessons to heart: Be feared, but not hated, treat your men well, but not so well they do not need you, it is best to be loved and feared at the same time, but is very difficult to do it, etc. Sonny and C [[LampshadeHanging openly discuss the question]] of whether it is better to be feared or loved. The way Sonny smiles when C asks the question shows how much he likes the kid. However, the film explores potential problems with Machiavelli's advice. [[spoiler:Most notably, Sonny is a believer in staying close to the neighborhood, the way Machiavelli recommends remaining close to a conquered territory in order to quickly deal with problems before they can snowball and become major issues. This does work, but it also makes it easy for someone to walk up to him in a crowded bar and shoot him in the head.]] Overall, his advice would have worked perfectly if ''nobody'' hated Sonny. Unfortunately for him, [[spoiler:killing people tends to inspire their next of kin to seek revenge.]]
102	* [[MalignedMixedMarriage Maligned Mixed Dating]]: And during the racial unrest of the late 1960s, no less.
103	* MirrorCharacter:
104	** The black teens are nearly as bad and racist as the punks C hangs out with.
105	** Lorenzo and Sonny, despite being on opposite ends of the social hierarchy, both want what is best for Calogero: a good education, and not to be corrupted by gangs. Leads to some inevitable HypocriticalHeartwarming on Sonny's part: "Don't do what I do."
106	* MirroredConfrontationShot: See CoversAlwaysLie.
107	* MisterSandmanSequence: The Bronx, 1960. Working-class joes play stickball in the street to a seemingly never-ending doo-wop soundtrack.
108	* TheMobBossIsScarier
109	-->'''Priest:''' Now I want you to tell me what happened.\
110	'''Young Calogero:''' No, Father. I'm not telling nobody nothing.\
111	'''Priest:''' Don't be afraid my son, nobody is more powerful than God.\
112	'''Young Calogero:''' I don't know about that, Father. Your guy is bigger than my guy [[FluffyCloudHeaven Up There]]. My guy is bigger than your guy down here.
113	* MolotovCocktail: C's friends attack a store in a black neighborhood with molotov cocktails. [[spoiler:As they drive off, one of the black residents [[CatchAndReturn picks up one of the bottles and throws it at their car]]. It ignites the rest of the bottles they had brought, and they get incinerated.]]
114	* MouthyKid: C, Slick, and Mario all curse like sailors when they're nine years old.
115	* NeighbourhoodFriendlyGangsters: If you watch closely (or enough times) you can see that while Sonny is a legit case, there is something of a deconstruction going on with the rest of Sonny's crew. Most of them are either losers or violent guys being held on a leash by Sonny.
116	* NeverLendToAFriend: Explored. When C vents about the guy he lent money to always avoiding him and not paying him back, Sonny asks him if C even ''likes'' the guy he lent to. When C says no, Sonny shrugs and replies that it is no big deal because, since the other guy keeps avoiding him, C will never have to deal with that guy again and got rid of him with just $20.
117	* NinjaPirateZombieRobot: The movie manages to plausibly package together gangsters, [[SoulBrotha soul brothas]], and (in one scene) Hell's Angels.
118	* NoHoldsBarredBeatdown: Several, with Sonny's crew beating the crap out of the disrespectful bikers and C's friends beating up the black kids being the most notable.
119	* NothingButHits: Leading to several instances of SoundtrackDissonance.
120	* NWordPrivileges: C calls Jane's brother Willy this in a moment of anger when he's accused of beating him up when in fact he tried to help him. It understandably nearly destroys their relationship.
121	* OhCrap. Some bikers start messing up Sonny's bar. He asks them to leave. They refuse. This is what happens next.
122	-->'''Sonny:''' ''[walks over to the door, locks it, locking the bikers inside]'' Now youse can't leave.\
123	'''Calogero:''' ''[narrating]'' I will never forget the look on their faces. All eight of them. Their faces dropped. All their courage and strength was drained right from their bodies. They had reputation for breaking up bars, but they knew that instant, they'd made a fatal mistake. This time they walked into the wrong bar. ''[Sonny's crew comes out of the back of the bar and beats the crap out of the bikers]''
124	* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: Count the number of times you hear C explain, "They called him [X] because..." Calogero himself eventually becomes known as "C" by everyone except for his father.
125	* [[OnlySaneMan Only Sane Boy]]: Calogero is by far the most level-headed person in his peer group, most obviously shown in the scene where one of his friends lights a cigarette in a car full of Molotov cocktails. And Calogero still isn't sane enough to get out of that car until [[VillainousRescue Sonny accosts them and forces the issue.]]
126	* OpposedMentors: A kid called Calogero growing up under the conflicting influences of his hard-working, honest, but poor father, and the charismatic, rich and powerful, AffablyEvil local mafia don Sonny. However, both of them want the same thing for him: staying out of trouble and going to college.
127	* PeerPressuredBully: Calogero likes hanging out with the local punks and wannabe hoodlums that he grew up with, but he doesn't have a malicious bone in his body. Most times he's trying to be a voice of reason to the rest of the group in some ways, and when his friends attack a group of black teenagers passing through the neighborhood, Calogero just basically holds one of them down, and essentially tells him to act like Calogero is beating him up while Calogero doesn't actually do anything to him.
128	* PersonAsVerb: Every time [[TheJinx Eddie Mush]] causes someone to lose a bet, they complain about being "Mushed".
129	* PoliticallyCorrectHistory: Mostly averted, although Sonny is surprisingly tolerant and open minded. This stands in contrast to Lorenzo who is a good and honest man but still holds outdated views on race and doesn't approve of interracial romances.
130	* PoliticallyCorrectVillain: Despite the strong racism of the time and within TheMafia, Sonny has no problem at all with C's relationship with a girl from a black neighborhood (Jane) and helps the boy in his endeavour by lending C his fancy car to impress her. As far as Sonny is concerned, life is too short to let the opinions of others interfere with your happiness.
131	* PragmaticVillainy: Sonny exhibits this a number of times, and is frustrated that no one else seems to catch on to the importance of it. One example is that Sonny was the only one who was willing to do business with the Black Gangs, while the more racist mobsters want nothing to do with them. Most of his hatred for C's friends stems from the fact that they just cause violence and trouble for the hell of it.
132	* PretenderDiss: It is painfully obvious, particularly to Sonny, that the teenage C and his friends are third rate wannabes. C is simply not cut out for a street life, and his friends are dumb punks trying way too hard. Sonny describes them as "Jerk-offs. And Slick is the biggest jerk-off."
133	* PrisonsAreGymnasiums: Sonny mentions that lifting weights is one of very few things you can do when you're in the joint.
134	* ProperlyParanoid: As Lorenzo points out, "Sonny can't trust anyone!" And Sonny himself confirms it later: "For me, (not trusting anyone) is the only way to live." [[spoiler: They're both right; the son of a man Sonny had killed years ago really was out to get him.]]
135	* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Sonny is the most reasonable man in the local Mafia, and their leader. [[spoiler:Which does not bode well for New York after he is killed.]]
136	* RedRightHand: Coffeecake.
137	* SecretTestOfCharacter: Both Mario and Sonny propose ways to test a girl's character and see if she is ''the'' right girl. Sonny's is ''slightly'' more reasonable and rather less... psychotic.
138	-->'''Sonny:''' You pick her up [in your car], open the door for her, let her get in. Then you go around the back and look through the rear window. If she doesn't reach over and unlock your side so you can get in, then it means that she's a selfish broad and what you've seen is just the tip of the iceberg. Dump her.
139	** [[spoiler:Jane passes the test.]]
140	* SomeOfMyBestFriendsAreX: Lorenzo tells C he isn't prejudiced, noting how he gets along great with the black people who ride his bus. C calls b.s. on that since the fact Lorenzo is uncomfortable with mixed marriage proves he has some prejudice.
141	* SoundtrackDissonance: Several scenes of brutal violence are overlaid with tracks like "Nights in White Satin".
142	** Others, not so much. The heavy bass and percussion of "Come Together" complement the NoHoldsBarredBeatdown in Sonny's bar very well.
143	* StoutStrength: Morbidly obese Jojo the Whale effectively uses both his fists and his belly to hurt a biker during the BarBrawl.
144	* StupidEvil: Much of Sonny's dislike for C's friends is that the group causes trouble just for the hell of it and rarely think through the consequences of their actions. [[spoiler:It leads to TooDumbToLive territory when their plan to attack the black neighborhood with Molotov Cocktails leads to their own deaths.]]
145	* [[TakeAThirdOption Take A Fourth Option]]:
146	-->'''Sonny:''' There's only three things to do in the joint, kid: lift weights, play cards, or get into trouble.\
147	'''Calogero:''' What did you do?\
148	'''Sonny:''' Me? I read.
149	* TalkingToTheDead: Calogero, Carmine, and Lorenzo all take turns doing this with [[spoiler:Sonny's body]] at the wake.
150	* TimeSkip: From 1960 to 1968.
151	* TimeshiftedActor: Actually, some critics mentioned preferring Francis Capra as "Young Calogero" to [[DullSurprise Lillo Brancato as the teenage Calogero/C]].
152	* TitleDrop: In the very last line of the movie.
153	-->'''Calogero:''' I learned the greatest gift of all. The saddest thing in life is wasted talent, and the choices that you make will shape your life forever. But you can ask anybody from my neighborhood, and they'll just tell you this is just another Bronx tale.
154	* TooDumbToLive: [[spoiler:C's friends were so stupid with the Molotovs that they deserved to die for that alone, aside from all their other racist Jerk Assery. Ralphie started ''smoking'' in the car with the Molotovs in his lap and at his feet, which was dumb enough that he's called out for it by the others. Then, Mario decides to ''roll'' a cocktail through the club door instead of throwing it so it will explode on impact. The gives one of the men inside the chance to pick it up and toss it back at the punks' car]].
155	* UngratefulBastard: Zig-zagged. [[spoiler:Willy is so blinded by anger he lies and says C attacked him. Later he comes around and admits the truth to Jane, leading to her finding C and reconciling with him.]]
156	* TheUnreveal:
157	** What was that fight about? Even Sonny and Carmine confirm that it was not over the parking space, but neither says what the real cause was. Carmine only confesses that the other guy was trying to kill him that day and that Sonny saved his life by taking him out.
158	** It is never revealed who put the bomb in Sonny's car. It is heavily implied that [[spoiler:Sonny's killer did it, in an early attempt to avenge his father]].
159	** Furthermore, it is unknown what happened to [[spoiler:Sonny's killer after he killed Sonny, but seeing how he whacked a mob boss in a bar full of mobsters, there's absolutely [[KilledOffscreen no way he could've made it out of there alive]].]]
160	* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Calogero's mother is never seen after the TimeSkip.
161	** But if you look closely at the end of the film as Lorenzo and Calogero are walking home, you can see someone (presumably his mother) watching from their apartment window.
162	* WhiteGangBangers: Aside from Sonny's crew, C's friends are essentially a gang without a name.

Context Film / ABronxTale