City by the Sea

Vincent LaMarca's job is to arrest killers, but this job is different. The suspect he is tracking is his own son. As a cop, LaMarca must bring the accused to justice. As a father he must try and help his son. However LaMarca owes his son more than that as he walked out on him and he is also plagued by his own bad memories of his father and how he was executed for murder.

This film starred: Robert De Niro, James Franco & Frances McDormand.

City By The Sea was released in 2002. When I saw the trailers for this film I thought it was going to be really good. With a great actor like De Niro and an up-coming star in James Franco I was really expecting good things from this movie. However, in my opinion this film didn't deliver. It was OK but it bored me some parts and apart from the end scene I wasn't as moved as what I had expected from this film. I don't recommend this film because you will probably be left disappointed.

***/***** Could be worse.

2002's 'City By the Sea' was a film that slipped by me when it first came out. I was living overseas and missed it completely. Having finally had a chance to watch it, I think it is the best film that Robert DeNiro has been in since 'Ronin' and up to 2006, his last great dramatic performance. He stars in 'City By the Sea' as the absentee father of James Franco. DeNiro is a decorated homicide cop who, while investigating a murder, finds uncomfortable evidence that concretely links his son to the murder. The film becomes a redemptive tale as DeNiro's character tries to make up for the damage of the lost years and save his son from a series of rapidly expanding catastrophes.

'City By the Sea' borrows from the noir tradition with a gritty locale, seedy characters and two male leads who have unlocked a series of events that are bigger than they are. DeNiro and Franco are both excellent here. Franco is tremendous for the entire film as a junkie who is trying (perhaps not very hard) to escape from his current life for one mixed of fantasy and memory. His final scenes with De Niro are powerful.

The DeNiro performance? I think that he played it perfectly. His character in the film tends to be very restrained and controlled. He analyzes and then makes his move. Part of this has to do with the background of the character. He hides his past because he's trying to protect his own vulnerabilities. By the time we reach the climactic scene towards the end of the film with his son, the restraint and control are gone. He is trying to save his son and the impassioned speech he gives is some of the best work I've seen him do. 'City By the Sea' is more of a redemptive drama than a crime drama and I think that the way the film was packaged and marketed may have confused that. In the climactic scene with Franco, you see the culmination of a great performance by a great actor. I was more impressed by the emotion and power of that scene than I was by anything else I've watched in quite a while.

'City By the Sea' is slow, but worth the journey. Very good acting all around and you might very well be a James Franco fan after seeing this if you weren't before.

Drug addict Joey LaMarca (James Franco) defends himself and kills dealer Picasso. He is injured and goes home to his skeptical mother (Patti LuPone). His estranged father NYPD homicide detective Vincent LaMarca (Robert De Niro) and his partner Reg Duffy (George Dzundza) are given the case of the dead drug dealer. Spyder (William Forsythe) is also after his associate's killer. Michelle (Frances McDormand) is Vincent's girlfriend. Gina (Eliza Dushku) is Joey's girlfriend and baby mama. Fellow addict Snake rats out Joey.

There are good actors doing solid work. This material could be given a more grim style. This represents a slow slide in the quality of director Michael Caton-Jones. This should be a more intense thriller and a more heart-breaking tragedy. I keep thinking that this movie should be better. The biographical nature does muddy the story. There is an overall lack of intensity.

This is a somewhat run-of-the-mill modern-day crime movie elevated by the presence of actor Robert De Niro. He plays a policeman who is a father to his druggie son, who is accused of murder.

"Vincent LaMarca" (De Niro) is torn between the guilt of being an absentee father to his kid ("Joey," played by James Franco) but still loving him enough to help him and yet still be a good, honest cop.

This is a gritty film, a bid sordid in spots. The locale is a grimy Atlantici City-type on-the- skids town by the ocean. It isn't pretty. As tough as the story can be, it's still interesting and recommended as a decent crime film. Actually, it's much more of a drama than an action-crime film....but I liked it. It's an interesting character study, as well.

"City by the Sea" is all about De Niro as a New York homicide detective who views the world as black and white and has trouble dealing with the grays of interpersonal relationships. Adrift between a broken home history, an ex-wife, a companion and bed mate (McDormand), and a adult son junkie (Franco), the aging cop protag finds that forging needed reconciliations is more difficult than busting the scumbags on his beat. A solid three star drama, "City by the Sea" is a must see for De Niro fans and a good watch for anyone into gritty dramas. (B+)