...until it's gets into the racial area then it goes to in a hand basket. + the mother disappears about 2/3 the way thru it and she had a place in that film. Then the ending is quaint as the kid's future is assured by [Pesci] at the coffin. Please. He may have slipped him some dough, but, he ain't going to babysit him for eternity.
And the racial bent. (Sonny) would have never in a million years sanctioned that kid's relationship with that black girl. No ing way.
The pummeling of the motorcycle gang is comic book and it could have been superlative.
But, it had moments:
-(Sonny) driving backwards,
-DeNiro sitting with the kid in the nose bleeds while the kid wants to sit ringside with (Sonny).
-(Sonny) lecturing the kid about the other kid owing him money and avoiding him. It's a great lesson and I've used it many times since then.
-The difference & debate between wife & DeNiro over him working for Sonny on the bus line running numbers up the route. It was refreshing to see the woman take that tact.
-Aaron Neville's "Tell It Like It is" on the street with the neighborhood girls. The sequence is produced & executed with quality & precision. It's a high point in this film. Run the song without the video and it's bereft & barren. With the video it's everything.