Review of City by the Sea (2002) by Aurelius D — 28 Aug 2009

"Do we have a choice? Or do we pretend we have a choice to help deal with the sentence?".

I didn't know what to expect when I put this in my list. I think the only reason I added it was because I saw De Niro and thought it had to be a sure fire good flick. The movie starts out and I'm thinking, wow the footage playing is old and and I wondered if I was watching the right thing. Then it goes present day and there's James Franco. I was like damn, he had films besides Spiderman back then? He plays a druggie looking for a fix and then a serious incident happens and makes him question his life and choices. Enter Robert as a detective who happens to find a body tied with James character. Then, holy cow, another surprise. William Forsythe appears as another drug dealer. This guy is a great actor and I always enjoy seeing him in stuff. He's kind of the ring leader of the drug trade and is not the kind of individual you would want to cross. The story goes back and forth between characters showing off the different lives. I must say it is always interesting watching a larger than life actor like Robert, live in an apartment and carry on a small low key life. The way the plot unfolds and the more you see about characters is kind of shocking. The movie moves at a good pace not crawling and giving lots of depth to each of the characters in turn. I find it fascinating to see how the lives of all the people are connected in one way or another and the movie isn't quick to give anything up. It has a way of slowly giving peaks at the history tucked deeply within. The more I watch the more people I recognize as the type of individuals that get sprinkled in as like B grade actors. This isn't to say they aren't great actors convincing in their roles, but you always see them as support to bigger names and can sometimes get lost in the background. The movie is well written and executed by a star cast. It was not exactly shocking in some ways when everything starts to fall apart but at the same time I just couldn't look away. when there were some surprises that really jump at you. There are some pretty powerful moments in this movie that are pretty hard not to feel. All in all I think this is a good movie that anyone could enjoy really. I definitely recommend it.