Review of City Island (2009) by Sergio E — 15 Apr 2011

I just can't believe that this movie was going to be so good and so entertaining and mesmerizing. Everybody is on top of their game in this movie. It's really amazing how much this low budget movie get's the realness and the entartaining story and characters to go with it!

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.

It's a rare, exhilarating experience to see a film and not find a single false note within. This is one of the most well written, perfectly acted, impeccably directed movies I have seen in a long, long while. It has the feeling of comforting familiarity, and yet is surprising at EVERY moment, taking your expectations and turning them in the most interesting and unique ways. As the basis for the story has the potential to be unbelievable and over the top, it could have been a disaster in the wrong hands, but very early on you find yourself feeling so 'happy' with what transpires, that you are completely drawn in by the brilliance that's displayed. Achingly funny, and sweet without being cloyingly sentimental, it is an amazing piece of work. I implore you to see it, and tell your friends about it. This is a movie that deserves a wide audience. It is classified as 'quirky', which it most certainly is, but COMPLETELY accessible. In creating the specific world of 'City Island', Raymond De Felitta has given us a touchstone of universal emotions. Secrets, lies, mis-communication, love, and most of all, family. I URGE you to see this film. It is truly special.

Meet the Rizzos, a family that might get along a lot better if only they could tell each other the truth. Dad Vince is the worst offender. But since the prison guard won't even admit that poker night is in fact acting class, how's he ever going to explain about his illegitimate son? His daughter works as a stripper when she's supposed to be in college, while young Vinnie Jr has a secret sexual fetish that involves a 24-hour webcam and the family's 300-pound neighbour. Vince's wife Joyce is the family's rock, but it's been a year since she enjoyed intimacy with her husband, and it's no surprise she thinks poker night spells A-F-F-A-I-R. When former prisoner Tony enters the Rizzos' lives, Joyce begins to suspect that the handsome young Tony isn't who Vince says he is. City Island is a funny, touching and smart family tale about the secrets of the past catching up with the lies of the present, and accepting that nobody's perfect - least of all your loved ones.

The Rizzos, a family who doesn't share their habits, aspirations, and careers with one another, find their delicate web of lies disturbed by the arrival of a young ex-con (Strait) brought home by Vince (Garcia), the patriarch of the family, who is a corrections officer in real life, and a hopeful actor in private.