City By The Sea Movie Review:


City by the Sea is a father-son crime drama that is based on actual events from a 1997 Esquire article by Michael McAlary. The setting of the film is of course, Long Beach (the city by the sea), which is now run down and slums of what it once was. It is here where we meet Joey (Franco), a down of his luck, drug-addicted junkie who gets caught up in a drug deal gone bad and actually kills a man. The film then parallels to the detective on the case, Vincent (De Niro), who is a veteran police officer that is also Joey's father. Vincent has hidden demons from the past with his father and marriage to Joey's mother. He hasn't been in Joey's life for years, he still wants to bring him in, but also wants to see Joey take responsibility for his actions. As Vincent is searching for his son, the audience meets his apartment neighbor girlfriend Michelle (McDormand), who tells Vincent that, "I don't want to marry you Vincent, but just get to know you." Also popping into Vincent's life is Joey's old flame Gina (Dushku), who is an ex-addict trying to stay clean. As Vincent gets closer and closer to finding his son, he discovers there is more to the story of the drug dealer's murder than expected.

This is the middle of the road detective drama that could have played as a really good film if there would have been better decision making from director Michael Caton-Jones and his editors. The cast is exceptional and it was great to watch De Niro and McDormand show their skills yet again.

Throughout his career, Michael Caton-Jones is a director that has delivered very good films such as Rob Roy (1995) and This Boy's Life (1993), a fun comedy (Doc Hollywood (1991)), and a lack-lusting action picture (The Jackal (1997)). I admire his work, but his pacing in City by Sea is just so slow, dragging and lost at moments. The story is delivered, but not in the best and simple route. The editing contributes to the film's dragging. All of the transitions are long cross-dissolves that fade so quickly that it seems almost unprofessionally done. I believe the cross-dissolves are what Caton-Jones wanted mood wise, but it just irritated me. In the production's defense, some of the scenes were so short that the cross-dissolves were needed to hold the audience's attention for a second to realize what has just happened.

Ken Hixon bases the screenplay off of actual events from a 1997 Esquire article by Michael McAlary. The story is about the characters and their relationships. In which, the major players are good characters, except for the bad guy biker named Spider. The character seemed so thrown together as a stereotype. Maybe it was just actor William Forsythe's performance and look, but this character had no depth at all. On the other hand, I liked the scenes involving Vincent and Michelle, in which I found these scenes to be full of reality and emotions. Joey and Vincent are two emotional and family connected characters that the audience will connect with as well. The script has a lot of melodrama that mixes in with some thrills, but overall the script is present as a character sketch rather a thriller.

Robert De Niro is just so good that you will not take your eyes off f him in this film. He captures the character with great depth that one cant help but feel for. Frances McDormand is solid as well, delivering a performance that is more complex than one might consider. Rising star James Franco continues to show his range by delivering a flawless performance as the junkie son Joey. Also, after delivering fake performance after fake performance (Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001) and Soul Survivors (2001)), Eliza Dushku does okay with better material and a better character as the single mother Gina. The weakest performance and aspect of the whole film really is William Forsythe's Spider. Forsythe sports bad hair and delivers the same old cocky lines in that harsh grim voice to deliver a worn out performance.

City by the Sea moves slow, very slow, but it ties into being an okay character driven film. There are problems in this film, but it is worth seeing to watch the acting of De Niro, McDormand, and Franco.

Report Card Grade: C+

Joseph Tucker

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