History Film / ABronxTale

* TestingTheLoveInterest: Two versions are brought up, one by Crazy Mario and one by Sonny. Both require a car, but the first involves the guy taking the girl's head when someone is driving next to them and shoving it in his lap. The driver then honks his horn to get the other driver's attention and make the girl aware they're being watched. If the girl doesn't object, so Mario reasons, then she's clearly a slut and should be dumped. Sonny's test is a lot more sane; open one of the car doors for the girl, then walk around the back and see if she'll automatically open the door on the other side for her boyfriend. If she doesn't, so the gangster reasons, then the girl is a selfish broad and should be dumped. [[spoiler:C uses that particular test with his new girlfriend, and she passes.]]

* ButtMonkey: Eddie Mush(and Frankie Coffeecake, to a certain extent).

* 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 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.

* EvenEvilHasStandards: Sonny is a ruthless career gangster, but he expresses a dislike for Slick and Crazy Mario for obviously being AxCrazy psychopaths in the making.

* PoliticallyCorrectHistory: Mostly averted, although Sonny is surprisingly tolerant and open minded.

* TheDreaded: Sonny and he even discusses this trope, saying it's better to be feared than loved and he's aware even those who are genuinely loyal to him are 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.

* IdiotBall: Mario rolling a Molotov cocktail instead of throwing it, [[spoiler: which enables one of the Black gang members to throw it back at their getaway car, causing an explosion that kills Mario and the rest of C's friends]]

* HypocriticalHeartwarming: Sonny's lecture to Calogero about guns and gangsters. "Don't do what I do... This is not for you."
* {{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.]]

* NotSoDifferent:
** The black teens are nearly as bad and racist as the punks C hangs out with.
** 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."

* 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.]]

''A Bronx Tale'' is a 1993 film directed by/starring Creator/RobertDeNiro and written by/starring Chazz Palminteri, 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.

* 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 them.]]

** Both the VHS/DVD cover and [[NeverTrustATrailer the trailer]] overplay the Sonny/Lorenzo conflict, and make it seem like the entire film focuses on the two trying to influence Calogero, leading up to a big confrontation. The focus is actually on Calogero growing up and having 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, and one of those lasts about 30 seconds. Calogero also notes that his father and Sonny never spoke once during the TimeSkip.

** But if you look closely at the end of the film as Lorenzo and Cologero are walking home, you can see someone (presumably his mother) watching from their apartment window.

* TheUnreveal: 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.

* CoversAlwaysLie[=/=]NeverTrustATrailer:
** Both the VHS/DVD cover and the trailer overplay the Sonny/Lorenzo conflict, and make it seem like the entire film focuses on the two trying to influence Calogero, leading up to a big confrontation. The focus is actually on Calogero growing up and having 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, and one of those lasts about 30 seconds. Calogero also notes that his father and Sonny never spoke once during the TimeSkip.

'''Young Calogero:''' You mean Mom wont let you go either?\\

* 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.
-->'''Calogero:''' There was change everywhere, but my neighborhood was the same.

* TheSixties: Exemplified by hippie bikers and soul music (in 1968). And the racial unrest...

** Then you have the background cityscape of Manhattan in the cover art, which is never in any part of the movie's plot.

** C gets a bottle lobbed at his head by one of the residents in Jane's predominantly black neighborhood. The bottle thrower is among those responsible or at least present when [[spoiler: C's friends]] get burned to death by having their own Molotov Cocktail tossed back at them.

* 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; 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, though he didn't join in. They reconcile by the end.