Movie Review: City by the Sea

MPAA Rating: R

Stars (Out of 10): 4

One Word Summary: Depressing

Full Review:

      City By The Sea is about a drug addict named Joey who winds up accused of killing a cop. His father, Vincent LaMarca was the investigating officer, and it was his partner who went down. Although LaMarca and his son have been estranged for many years, he still decides to to help him reveal the truth.

    A movie can be good for so many reasons and still not be enjoyable. It can have all the Oscar winning actors in the world, and Oscar winning director, and all the publicity money could buy. But if the plot is depressing, and makes you sick to your stomach, than it doesn't matter. With actors like Robert De Niro and Frances McDormand, City By The Sea should have been great. But if you're going for anything more than Oscar votes, then you have to be more concerned with pleasing crowds. All the drugs and the disgusting characters in this film out shadowed its cast and its "artsy"ness.

    James Franco and Robert De Niro weren't terrible... but they were too much. With a plot that had already overdone it, they should've pulled back a bit. The movie was over-acted and under-thought. The climax was so trashy I wiped my feet on the way out of the theatre. Frances McDormand was pretty good, but her character was just a waste of screen time.

    City By The Sea failed to do what Road To Perdition did, tell a story about crime and still have you care about the characters. Tom Hanks' gangster father was likable because of his relationship with his son. Franco's character may not be guilty of killing the cop, but he killed someone else, and is a drug addict on top of that. They can't convince us to care about his character.

    While writing this review I've learned that City By The Sea is based on a true story. I've also learned that the facts have been fairly distorted so the movie can be as entertaining as possible. Oops, it didn't work. City By The Sea is a TV-movie with an A-list cast. Its lines are repeated like a broken record, and if Robert De Niro plays a cop in another movie I just might puke! Some one made a terrible mistake letting this movie get made, and get made the way it was.

    In conclusion, City By The Sea has nothing new to put on the table. It may have a good cast, and the plot may look nice in a trailer, but the story is about as enjoyable as a funeral. There are even a few scenes where the World Trade Centers are visible.

Conclusion:

Yahoo! Movies Description:

Drama

1 hr. 48 min. New York City homicide detective Vincent LaMarca has forged a long and distinguished career in law enforcement, making a name for himself as a man intensely committed to his work. But on his latest case, the stakes are higher for Vincent - the suspect he's investigating is his own son, Joey. Vincent and Joey have been painfully estranged ever since Vincent divorced Joey's mother ad left the decaying boardwalks of Long Beach, Long Island for the anonymity of Manhattan and a successful career with the NYPD. He lives his life in solitude, keeping his girlfriend at arm's length; the closest relationship he maintains is with his partner, Reg - and Vincent makes sure that friendship stops at the precinct door. As long as Vincent lives in the protection of the present, he doesn't have to deal with the pain of his past - or his sorrow over his broken relationship with Joey. But this murder
investigation is drawing Vincent home to Long Beach, the self-proclaimed "City by the Sea," where the past has been waiting for him to return. The agonizing memory that has tortured him all his life - the death of his father, a convicted murderer who was executed when Vincent was just a boy - still plagues him. In the course of the investigation, he discovers that his own unresolved pain and
failures as a father have deeply influenced Joey's life, and the destructive choices he has made. As a cop, Vincent must bring a criminal to justice; as a father he must find a way to save his son. Now he will put his life on the line in order to do right by both his family and his profession.