City by the Sea

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.

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.

Straight-laced detective Vincent LaMarca(a pained and restrained Robert DeNiro) has already lived a disrupted and uneven life of broken relationships and the memory of his dad who was imprisoned and executed for the death(later deemed accidental)of a kid that he had kidnapped). As if that weren't enough to bear,his troubled son Joey(JAmes Franco) has ran away and faces trouble with both the law and the baddies,particularly a vile thug named Spyder(William Forsythe). This is the general construct of director Michael Caton-JOnes' and screenwriter Ken Hixon's film. Set in an unspecified part of New Jersey(though one might infer that it's Atlantic City,given the title),this film is mostly character study,with actors Franco,Eliza Dushku(As Joey's scared girlfriend)and Forsythe making the most of their characters,while DeNiro and Frances McDormand(as DeNiro's patient friend and lover) provide fine,if not exception,performances in this drama. Good for a viewing or two. 8 out of 10

"City by the Sea" starring Robert DeNiro and Frances McDormand (Fargo & Almost Famous) is an exciting and heartfelt melodrama. Director Michael Caton-Jones proves himself with one of his greatest efforts to date, bouncing back from his previous disappointing and misdirected film "The Jackal." Caton-Jones displays a style all his own with stunning atmospheric poignancy. The city by the sea, to which the film refers to is Long Island, N.Y., a wonderfully lonely and dilapidated city to where junkie Jimmy Nova, (DeNiro's son) calls home.

DeNiro plays a well-respected cop with a terribly troubled past that seems to constantly haunt him. His ex-wife, played by Patti Lupone, struggles to get over the violence of their past relationship while his son, played by James Franco, is headed down the same path as DeNiro's father once was, that of an (alleged?) murderer. Jimmy Nova, as he's known around town mixes with the wrong crowd, as do most junkies, and one night finds himself struggling for his life, and before he knows it, stabbing and killing a high profile drug dealer. This relatively small act of self-defense cascades a sequence of irreversible events, which never seem to let up until the end. DeNiro, of course, is assigned to the case and unknowingly hunts down his own son who he hasn't seen or heard from in several years. Both father and son have moved on with their lives since their seperation, but still harbor intense emotional feelings for each other that seem to slowly emerge further and further into the film. To top it all off the two men are involved in complex relationships of their own which naturally complicates things further.

DeNiro's relationship with Frances McDormand seems quite convenient at times, but nonetheless shows the tenderness and compassion of both characters, while Franco's relationship feels more like a fling with multiple strings attached. In the end, both DeNiro and his son must face the issues that have plagued them for three generations and make one of the hardest decisions of their life.

Similar topics and themes in "City by the Sea", were explored in "Road to Perdition", however it is the way that they are explored that keeps the film feeling fresh and unique. Similar themes explored are the father-son relationship, the destructive path of violence and crime, and most importantly the will and courage to fight for a second chance at life. I was particularly impressed with the atmospheric mood of New York that Caton-Jones set from the beginning, reminiscent of Scorcese's "Taxi Driver", thus giving the film the reality that many recent Hollywood films tend to lack. The acting in this film is of the highest quality and will not be overlooked, contending with so

DiNiro defends his abandoned son. Sooner or later, we all have to stand and face the music. This a depiction of their crossroads, of their choices and consequences: really powerful sh1t. Unfortanately, this is another example of how an out of balance film seems sub-standard, but only because everything else coming out of Hollywood has better production. What's out of balance? you might ask. The acting is excellent, maybe perfect, but there is no Kubrick Factor, there is no memorable music, hurried editing. The old deer hunter pair of DiNiro and Dzundza is still good. McDormand is good. But there's no music! What's missing is dramatic pauses and music. Seems rushed. Real shame this movie and the story it portrays. This could have been so much better. Maybe a classic.

Performance 9 Story 7 score 3 cine 6

The rating scale is my own,... But I think I will continue to use it.

Now that I think of it, in modern dramas there are so many current films that lack these two crucial items; Kubrick and Music. It goes without saying that all modern movies need more development, more patience. Then again, I may be biased and setting the bar too high after watching Clockwork, Godfather, Pulp, Blade Runner, Amadeus, Usual, Apocalypse, Shrek2 and Snatch a hundred times. (Combined...I'm not that sick!)I do believe those are those the most powerful and influential fictional movies I've ever seen. (Schindler, Private Ryan, JFK, don't count...they're docudramas) Maybe I need to get out more often. How do I get to Hollywood?