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.

I'm really not a fan of cop/crime dramas.

I watched this on a recommendation without any clue about its content, and I have to say I quite enjoyed it.

De Niro is Vincent laMarca, a detective of many years on the force. His wife is estranged and he hasn't seen his son Joey in 15 years but finds himself pursuing the boy when Joey is wanted in connection with the murder of a drug dealer. Joey is in a bad way, being a drug addict himself and father of a son he can't support, so perenially finds himself in conflict with his mother who reluctantly tolerates his junkie nature and internally with himself.

Frances McDormand plays Michelle, Vincent's current relationship, though the depth of the relationship seems rather superficial given the 2 live in the same apartment block but seperate appartments. She wants to know more about Vincent when she decides she doesn't know him at all, but his past is murky with a complex and dark family history.

Add to this, his son, Joey's own son with Gina who essentially loses faith in both Joey and her own ability to be a mother, and you have a rather subtle and dark drama with a lot of complexities.

It is worth noting that all the performances are as excellent as you would expect, particularly the breath-taking de Niro, in one of his best roles for years. This is the type of character he was born to play and he's so convincing as Vincent.

As a crime story and cop drama it's one for fans especially, but if you know good cinema you will appreciate it too.

Drug addict Joey LaMarca (James Franco) defends himself and kills dealer Picasso. He is injured and goes home to his skeptical mother (Patti LuPone). His estranged father NYPD homicide detective Vincent LaMarca (Robert De Niro) and his partner Reg Duffy (George Dzundza) are given the case of the dead drug dealer. Spyder (William Forsythe) is also after his associate's killer. Michelle (Frances McDormand) is Vincent's girlfriend. Gina (Eliza Dushku) is Joey's girlfriend and baby mama. Fellow addict Snake rats out Joey.

There are good actors doing solid work. This material could be given a more grim style. This represents a slow slide in the quality of director Michael Caton-Jones. This should be a more intense thriller and a more heart-breaking tragedy. I keep thinking that this movie should be better. The biographical nature does muddy the story. There is an overall lack of intensity.

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