City Island

"What we got here is... failure to communicate."
  That famous quote is from the iconic 1967 film Cool Hand Luke, which starred Paul Newman and garnered an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for George Kennedy. Neither of those men spoke that line above. But that line perfectly describes the story we watch in the 2009 film - City Island which stars Andy Garcia and Julianna Margulies.
  There are two further tie-ins. Garcia plays a prison guard, or more  correctly a Corrections Officer, and Steven Strait plays a convict.
  This film is a tale about a family that keeps secrets very well, and has trouble communicating. Garcia is Vincent Rizzo. He is a family man with a wife and two kids. They all live in the small enclave called City Island which technically is part of the Bronx, but is nothing like the Bronx that most of us know about from the movies and television.
  Vince's day job is as a Corrections Officer at a nearby prison. His aspirations and dreams are centered on becoming an actor. He enrolls in an acting class - only he can't tell is wife about it. So on various nights when he has a class, he tells her that he is out  for a poker game. That's his relatively new secret.
  He has an older secret and it involves a prisoner at the jail where he works. In fact Rizzo has the prisoner allowed out of jail on a family member type of parole. He brings the prisoner home, only he can't tell anyone about his connection to the prisoner.
  Vincent's son, Vince Jr., played by Ezra Miller, has a few secrets too. He is addicted to Internet porn, and he admires a BBW ( a desirable overweight woman)  who he discovered on the internet, amd who actually lives in the next house. Vince Jr. is mum about all of this. But not that mum. His wisecracks at the family dinner table are near priceless.
  The daughter, Vivian Rizzo, has a secret too. She's not only lost her scholarship to a college, but she has also been kicked out of the school. So she's taken a day job to earn enough money to be able to go back to college as a paying student - only it is the kind of job that she cannot tell her parents about. By the way, Vivian is played by Dominik Christina Garcia-Lorida, and she is Andy Garcia's real life daughter.
  Mrs Joyce Rizzo is played by Julianna Margulies is a successful actress who has starred in both ER and The Good Wife. Here she has to deal with the Rizzo's. No easy task. And once she starts to suspect that Vince hasn't quite been all that upfront with her, she starts an adventure of her own. Of course this has to be a secret too.
  So there they are. A nice Italian family that just can't or won't communicate with one another. Will their secrets come out? Will each of them crumble under the burden of their own lies?
  They live in City Island and they have their own beach as the back yard is right on the shore of Long Island Sound. Yes, this is a working class family. But they are not over the top Italian. Just over the top crazy. For sure, all of this 'stuff' is going to come to a boil. You know it is will just have to.
  While not quite a comedy, this film is closer to a comedy than a straight drama. It is fun to watch because you can see the explosions coming far in advance. It is fun to watch because it does cross the lines a few times. I mean it goes from far-fetched to 'ya gotta be kidding me'.
  More over, so much of it isn't the least bit believable, which is funny in its own right.
  For sure this isn't an A-List movie, but it has enough quality acting, decent writing, and a nice bit of direction by newcomer Raymond De Felitta to make it worth your time.
  Add in the plusses of Alan Arkin and Emily Mortimer in supporting roles as non-family members, but each of them are an integral part of Vince's secret, and you will have a nice bit of entertainme

You'd think that Hollywood would be crying out for a good-natured black comedy with some bankable stars, but somehow City Island has languished in distribution hell. Having won the Audience Award at  the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival, it didn't hit cinemas until March 2010 -  and now the UK will have to wait until the end of March 2011 for a DVD  release.

Clearly someone in Tinseltown is dragging their heels.

Which is a shame, because City Island is a very likable and well-put-together comedy, with a standout performance by Andy Garcia and a few social messages thrown in for good measure. Sure, at times it  can feel a little contrived and cliched, but we've come to expect as  much from Hollywood's comedies. What's refreshing is the commitment to  character depth and genuine emotion that sets it apart from the rest of  the pack.

Garcia plays Vince Rizzo, a prison guard and lifelong native of the  Bronx's City Island. Vince is a simple and down-to-earth man (he'd  hardly be a comedy Italian if he wasn't), but he also has a deep, dark  secret. When his wife thinks he's at a poker game, Vince is actually  taking acting lessons.

Of course, that alone isn't enough to hang a movie on, so Vince has  another secret tucked up his sleeve. One day at work he recognizes one  of the inmates, and a little detective work reveals that Tony Nardella  (Steven Strait) is actually his illegitimate son.

Vince desperately wants to do the right thing, especially when he  discovers that Tony's mother has died, so he brings him home to help  build a bathroom in his boathouse. All of which would be confusing  enough, but Vince doesn't tell anyone the truth about who Tony really is  - and given their own marital problems, it's no great surprise when his  wife Joyce (Julianna Margulies) develops a crush on the hunky con.

As the Rizzo family slowly pulls apart its own complex web of lies, it's  Tony who proves to be the most honest one among them - and the possible  key to a happy, deceit-free future.

There are obvious lessons to be learned from City Island's rather  conventional plot, especially when it comes to telling your partner the  truth, but its true strengths lie in the details. Garcia is endlessly  amusing in the bumbling everyman role, and his growing friendship with  fellow thespian Emily Mortimer is one of the movie's deeper joys. Alan Arkin satirizes the acting profession with glee as Vince's teacher too, while  Julianna Margulies anchors the film in something approaching reality.

The only false notes come with the subplot, a misguided story that sees  their son fantasizing about plus-size women - but aside from this  slightly crude lapse (which seems to belong in an entirely different  movie), City Island is a smart and funny glance at the lies we tell every day to the ones we love.

Of course, with the limited distribution not everyone will be able to  enjoy its under-appreciated charms - but when it finally makes its way  to you, City Island offers some refreshingly honest laughs.

3/5

There IS no spoon!

Last updated: 2010-03-13 06:37:50 by McDozer