City by the Sea (2002)

The greatest movie ever made..!

Lack of good storyline.

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Evidently inspired by a true story, the titular "City by the Sea" refers to Long Beach, New York, a decaying seaside town, where much of the action takes place. When a drug deal goes awry, a junkie named Joey kills the dealer, and, together with his buddy, he tosses the body into the sea. Eventually, the dealer's corpse washes up in Manhattan, where two cops are called in to investigate. In a bizarre twist of fate, one of the cops is Joey's estranged father. Meanwhile, Spyder, the local drug boss, displeased by the killing of one of his men and eager to regain respect in the neighborhood, also pursues Joey. In this gritty, downbeat story, few uplifting moments mitigate the tale of drugs, crime, and a supremely dysfunctional family.The cast is strong, and Robert De Niro as Vincent LaMarca, the cop pursuing his son, a suspected murderer, gives good performance as expected; LaMarca struggles not only with having to arrest his son, but also with his own past and the haunting legacy of his father. James Franco is a standout as Joey, the addict struggling with addiction and his father's abandonment. Frances McDormand is always an engaging actress, and, as Michelle, DeNiro's patient girl friend, she plays a woman who knows where she stands in life and the limits of her tolerance. Patti Lupone, the shrewish ex-wife, effectively lays all the blame for their son's problems on DeNiro, while George Dzundzas gives a low-key performance as Reg, DeNiro's loyal partner.Based on an article by Mike McAlary, Ken Hixon's screenplay slowly probes the shadows of LaMarca's multi-generational past and unveils Joey's secrets as well. Filmed in Asbury Park, New Jersey, the film is better than average, and director Michael Caton-Jones maintains a decent pace, although he can do little to brighten a gloomy story. The LaMarca family has decayed like the city of Long Beach; dark roots from the past reach up to strangle succeeding generations and threaten a future one. Fine performances, especially by Franco, make "City by the Sea" worthy viewing, although a stiff drink or a Valium may be required to lift viewers' moods afterwards.

City by the Sea is a very mediocre movie with a poorly developed storyline, albeit a terrific cast that deserved better. One issue I certainly did not have with this movie was the cast, Robert De Niro hits it out of the park, really understanding the problems and frustration of this character, it is one of his most vulnerable performances, James Franco also shines in his scenes as a down on his luck young adult, as does Frances McDornand in her limited screen time. The film was too afraid to do anything, that was its main problem, it never took the story in an interesting direction, it's given a lot of good material but does nothing with it, it's going through the motions from start to finish, the crew did not try hard enough to make this exceptional. The best scenes are the ones De Niro and Franco share together, they're emotional and very believable as a father and son. Sadly, their parts together are limited to only two, I felt like I could have given it a much higher rating if they were together more, it's when their acting was the most raw, as well as that, it's when the story really goes somewhere, instead of simply lingering back and forth. The script is awful, the terrific performances make it watchable, but at the end of the day, that is not enough, and I could not possibly recommend City by the Sea to anyone, a movie that is given so much, and does nothing with it. A cop is forced to confront his past when his son is revealed to be the chief suspect of a murder case. Best Performance: Robert De Niro

For me this was a disappointment, and rarely am I disappointed by a De Niro film. It's just a standard nothing new film. This is just a routine cop drama, with the always competent De Niro in a not so tough role as a cop, who's very family orientated. Now just having realized his junkie son (Franco) may of been the murderous hand behind the death of a cop, he must find him. Really this is just old territory, in a painfully trite cop drama, the new acting great, Franco, delivering a sincere and powerful performance, as the fleeing son, running scared. Did he or not pull the trigger, or is there more than a story to it. We really don't care, or we have an itch to know, to get our story's worth. Seriously, Franco is the only real reason for warranting a view, while Eliza Dunkshu was strong too as the girlfriend. A kill ninety minute film in the land of ordinary that does try, by evidently fails, as just a sad tale of mislead youth. Do watch for Franco, though.

This is a story about ugly America and ugly Americans whose incessant greed and self-interest have caused their karma to destroy them and their families. At the center is a heartless and two-faced career NY police officer who makes his living busting everyday people for average offenses while at the same time writing off the murders committed by his own father and son as "mistakes".What we see is ecological karma at work as Mother Earth Gaia or perhaps even Jehovah punishes those who squander precious resources. The central family is typical of New Yorkers with heavy expenses and of the mentality that to have everything is the minimum expected. In one way or another this destroys three successive generations.The director is attempting to portray victimization as something that passes on down, but the plain fact is that each of these generations created their own issues.What I see as different from most, is to look at how much money and time society is forced to spend on these people. All the money made by the husband and wasted by the wife and child to begin with, add to it the expenses for a number of murder investigations, destruction of property, so on and so forth. What makes this dysfunctional family, this tiny group of selfish people, worth any of it? The resources and money that this family has used up would be enough to feed every person in some small countries for years. Better than 95% of the world does not live in a house like this family did, and does not drive cars like they do or eat or dress like they do.Yet we are supposed to find something rewarding about all this. I think not.