A Bronx Tale (1993)

3/5

A Bronx Tale tells the story of a bus driver (Robert De Niro) and his son Calogero in the Bronx in the 60's. After an incident early in his life, he is taken in and befriended by the local gangster (Chazz Palminteri), much to his father's dismay. The movie charts the history of the time period alongside the development of the characters. What I liked most about the movie was the progression of the story and the emotional depth of the characters. It was refreshing and new, for the most part, although sometimes it strayed into predictability.

Nothing about the movie stood out from a technical perspective. I didn't think the casting decisions were very well-founded; there are vastly better young actors than the ones in this movie. The acting was below average for everyone except De Niro and Palminteri, where it was only slightly above average and not the best of their careers. The writing, by Palminteri, was rather simplistic and included unceasing, unnecessary voice-over. I wasn't too impressed with De Niro's directing, but I can appreciate this movie for his personal investment in the subject matter. Overall, I wouldn't suggest you go seek it out, but it's certainly not terrible.

IMDb link: http://imdb.com/title/tt0106489/

A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints (2006)

3/5

A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints is the strangest film adaptation of a book I've ever seen, because it's also about what happens after the book was published. The movie centers around Dito as he comes back home to his sick father and remembers his past life experiences in the tough Astoria, Queens neighborhood of New York. As a gritty, realist coming-of-age drama, the movie works. The excess, about him coming back home after twenty years, felt worthless to me. The directing as a whole actually felt really creative, especially considering Montiel is not really a director. The editing style evoked a nostalgic mood, and most of the movie really felt like his memories, not his stories. An important sound would be remembered first, then the rest of the story. Black outs and sounds fading out at emotionally trying moments. Fuzzy audio or blurry video. All of these artistic decisions worked extremely well and made the movie much more personal to the viewer. The acting was very well done and I enjoyed it the entire time. The music also fit snugly with the mood.

Like I said, the second story about Dito coming back home felt worthless, and was especially disappointing since Robert Downey Jr. and Rosario Dawson were billed so high. Nothing physically happened at his return, nor did any emotion or sentiment that wasn't already previously expressed get uncovered. Luckily, it did not take up much of the movie. Sometimes the editing style irked me, even though I understand that that's probably how he remembered it. The shots were pretty mediocre and uninspired. I hated the font choice and usage. Some scenes felt really pointless (in the past too, not just the present). What I really hated was when he tried to copy Spike Lee and have the characters talk to the camera about "who they are." What pissed me off about it most was not that it was straight-up copying, but that it wasn't even necessary. It added nothing to the movie and only cheapened it. Overall though, I really enjoyed watching this movie and recommend it if this sounded interesting to you.

IMDb link: http://imdb.com/title/tt0473488/