City Island

Well, you maybe won't believe that this movie really IS brilliant if you are only 30 minutes or so in. At least I didn't.

I actually got bored by the multiple - but at first not very promising - story lines going on. But I like Andy Garcia, I like Emily Mortimer and after all it had a very high rating here.

It got better though, and in the last 30 minutes or so, when everything started coming together, I watched almost with my mouth open and sometimes I had to laugh really hard.

And while Andy Garcia is a pretty good actor in general ... BOY is he good in this one !! I predict an Oscar nomination for him this year, no I am SURE he will get nominated for this role!

So, all I am saying is: Just give it a chance and sit through it. You won't regret it and you will end up LOVING it !!!

Like a number of smaller films this year such as The Kids are All Right, Please Give, Winter's Bone and the first two films of the Millennium Trilogy, City Island is one of this years sleeper indie hits and it is easy to see why. Out on DVD today, it is one of the best movies of the year.

In many ways, City Island is a traditional dysfunctional family melodrama, and it revels in that mold. What elevates this dark comedy to something compelling and infinitely memorable are the universally strong performances, confident direction and most importantly -- one of the best scripts in years. Oddly, I found the same response to a very different film; Frost/Nixon. Boasting the same underlying strengths by way of actors and writing, both are perplexingly entertaining for movies with such a humble story arc and could easily be dismissed as pompous Oscar bait. This is far from the truth.

By way of an introductory voice-over narration we meet the Rizzo family who reside on City Island, a tiny island community in the Bronx. The residents of this picturesque hidden jewel consist of two groups, "mussel suckers" who are immigrants to the island and "clam diggers," who like the Rizzos, have resided there for generations. Vince Rizzo (Andy Garcia) is a prison guard but secretly aspires to become an actor, a masquerade so embarrassing to him it leads his wife Joyce (Julianna Margulies) to believe he is having an affair. Their son Vince Jr. has a secret fetish for more portly woman and their daughter Vivian is secretly working as a stripper to pay for school. To top things off, Vince has come across a paroled prisoner who just so happens to be his son Tony who he had abandoned during a relationship decades prior.

Basing your opinion on that description alone, it would be very easy to dismiss City Island as an outlandish comedy of errors, but the execution is so genuine and deliberate it borders on genius. As tensions escalate after Vince brings Tony home with him (under false pretences) everyone's secrets collide in a climax that ranks among my favorite finales of all time, drama, comedy, horror film or otherwise. As the writing behind the big finish shines through, so does the believable mix of fluctuating emotions exhibited by the cast. Words do not do this scene justice, so I urge you to simply experience it yourself.

Each principle member of the cast gives what I would call career-high performances, especially Andy Garcia who anchors the story as everything dissolves around him. He is hilariously deadpan at one moment and tender at the next, which sets off Margulies' fiery Joyce to even more palatable effect. Steven Straight as Vice's long-lost son is perfectly nuanced as an ex-con who is as puzzled by his new lodgings and the kindness of a supposed stranger as he is disenchanted with society. Emily Mortimer gets a great side role as a colleague of Vince's in his secret acting class; a relationship that stays refreshingly plutonic.

Every member of the Rizzo family is given enough screen time to become fully realized individuals but without taking so much attention away from another to degrade them to a caricature. Vince Jr. is sarcastic and annoying most of the time and in a lesser film he would have been overused and could have easily sunk the film. But writer/director Raymond De Felitta plays to each characters strengths and balances their interplay faultlessly.

Above all else, City Island is a film about secrets and how when kept bottled up can shred even the strongest of relationships but when shared can be a uniting factor. This theme seems fitting as this little treasure is the best kept secret of the year.

Plotted somewhat like a farce but as emotionally resonate as the best comedy-dramas, City Island is most aptly described, simply and literally, as wonderful. The cast is unfailingly strong with producer Andy Garcia giving himself the meatiest role – to great effect. A few too many "dems" and "dose" may lace his New York accent but he is funny, sincere, frustrated and perseverant in a wide panoply of scenes with actors who have either been TV-type cast (Juliana Margulies), indie-film type cast (Emily Mortimer) or not yet had a real chance to really strut their stuff (Steven Straight, Dominik Garcia-Lorido, and a promising Ezra Miller). Alan Arkin pops in with his usual world-weary Weltanshauung but it plays wonderfully here.

Still, you can see good acting in a number of films (though not an ensemble as strong as this). What separates City Island from the comedy-drama mainland is a story that is both fantastical and yet credible. The premise of what befalls this particular prison guard is a little over-the-top, as are the nonstop (funny) family feuds, but it all feels real. The story detours into little tide pools of drama for each character and here, too, every subplot provides laughs – and it all comes together in a tsunami of comedy at the end, true to its farcical roots. But there's a surprisingly strong current of emotion too in a finale that argues secrets are probably best revealed when you feel least safe in doing so.

The best film I've seen to date this year.

"City Island" is set in City Island, a small fishing community of the Bronx, New York. Generally, in these small communities, everyone knows all your secrets. But this film is centered on the Rizzo family, who all have their own secrets. These secrets don't so much tear them apart but keep them angry and on edge. The good thing is, it's not nearly as dark as it sounds, it's a comedy too.

Overall, this film is well done. Great writing, and great casting. Andy Garcia is masterful as Vincent Russo, Emily Mortimer is charming as his fellow actor, Steven Strait is enigmatic as the prison inmate brought home to his family, Dominik Garcia-Lorido is captivating as his daughter, Julianna Margulies is forceful as his maligned wife, and young Ezra Miller, his son, delivered his comedic lines with a seasoned ascorbic tongue.

It definitely fits into the dysfunctional family dramedy genre. The comedy at times is non sequitur and is too weird to be funny, but when it's sweet and honest, it's quite cute. "City Island" is good, above average for it's genre, but you have to be able to withstand family arguments in the Bronx accent to be able to make it through.

This is a terrific film, a testament to the brilliance of actor/producer Andy Garcia. It's got it all -- quirky but lovable characters and a great plot with twists reminiscent of the comedies of Oscar Wilde (very clearly updated, of course). As far-fetched as it might seem, it rings true from start to finish. Can't wait for more from writer/director Raymond De Felitta. It's smart, touching, hysterical, and trumps just about everything I've seen in months. Like everyone else, I don't know why this is running under the radar. Andy Garcia plays his role like a fine violin -- and he's totally captivating. All the actors deliver, and every moment is a treat. I don't know when or if it will get a wide release, but if you get the chance, see it while you can.