Vince Rizzo (Andy Garcia) is a prison guard who is holding a number of secrets from his family. He continues to smoke secretly even though his wife Joyce (Julianna Margulies) believes he has quit. During certain evenings he is also taking an acting class when he has told his family that he is attending a poker game. Most seriously however, he realises that one of the inmates locked up is actually his son from a previous relationship he had before he met his wife. Although he has never told Joyce about his son Tony (Steven Strait), he decides to help him stay out of trouble by bringing him home as a house guest for thirty days and pretending that he is an old friend. The rest of Vince's family hold their own secrets too. Vince's youngest son Vince Jr. (Ezra Miller) is attracted to large women and watches pornography to satisfy his urges, while his daughter Vivian (Dominik Garcia-Lorido) has lost her college scholarship and is working in a strip club. In the acting class headed by Michael Malakov (Alan Arkin), Vince is partnered with Molly (Emily Mortimer), an intelligent woman who allows Vince to vent his secrets and encourages him to be more honest.
Cleverly, the title of this very funny dark comedy refers to not only the unique and beautiful setting of the film in a little fishing village in the Bronx but also the more metaphorical idea of the way that people are crowded together, yet isolated from each other through the secrets they hold. It is a shame that many of these secrets that form the major plot points and climaxes of the picture are revealed in City Island's trailer because it makes for a far more predictable and less surprising adventure. Some of these plot points are highly telegraphed by Raymond De Felitta's direction and might be foreseeable for some viewers anyway. Thankfully, the climax of City Island draws many of these crazy threads together in a sequence of family chaos and dramatic irony that is so clever and funny that it really elevates the energy of the film. Raymond De Felitta, who also wrote the screenplay, could be accused of using too many contrivances and coincidences to make these plot points connect and his inclusion of the acting class makes for a fun but relatively transparent and simple metaphor for the way people hide their true selves from each other. A film like Paul Thomas Anderson's There Will Be Blood (2007) was far more subtle in its depiction of rehearsed speeches and performances as a means of hiding one's darkest emotions. Yet for any of these faults in the script, this is a smart, hysterically funny and heartfelt depiction of the dysfunctional family, with a lovely message at its core about the importance of honesty.
What holds much of this film together and provides the laughs are the dynamics of the Rizzo family. Although Garcia has defined his career by playing hardened men, he rather fittingly displays a number of layers to his character here. He realises the necessity to stamp his authority as a guard but he also has a far more vulnerable side when he grants both the audience and Molly a sense of his guilt about his past and the mistakes that he made. Garcia also holds a number of fine comic touches to contrast the more emotional moments. His nervousness towards the fury of his wife and his initially embarrassing audition for a Scorsese picture offer genuine comic touches to a terrific performance. The casting of Garcia's own daughter is also a clever choice in developing the authenticity of the family dynamics and the way that some of the arguments with Vivian escalate are funny and true. Julianna Margulies has a great time as Joyce, a frustrated and impulsive woman and Ezra Miller also has a few funny moments, though his subplot about his attraction to fat women is the oddity of the picture because it does not tie in as nicely as the others and seems to belong to another film. Emily Mortimer brings a level of sweetness and intelligence to a cute performance and her secret is also a dark and surprisingly touching one.
City Island is a small and perhaps not entirely memorable comedy because of its predictability and contrivances. Yet there are still enough laughs and moments of poignancy to make this one of the more thoughtful and engaging American comedies so far this year. It is still certainly worth seeing for some of the delightful performances, particularly Garcia, who makes this film his own with wonderful comic touches and plenty of heart as well.
Cleverly, the title of this very funny dark comedy refers to not only the unique and beautiful setting of the film in a little fishing village in the Bronx but also the more metaphorical idea of the way that people are crowded together, yet isolated from each other through the secrets they hold. It is a shame that many of these secrets that form the major plot points and climaxes of the picture are revealed in City Island's trailer because it makes for a far more predictable and less surprising adventure. Some of these plot points are highly telegraphed by Raymond De Felitta's direction and might be foreseeable for some viewers anyway. Thankfully, the climax of City Island draws many of these crazy threads together in a sequence of family chaos and dramatic irony that is so clever and funny that it really elevates the energy of the film. Raymond De Felitta, who also wrote the screenplay, could be accused of using too many contrivances and coincidences to make these plot points connect and his inclusion of the acting class makes for a fun but relatively transparent and simple metaphor for the way people hide their true selves from each other. A film like Paul Thomas Anderson's There Will Be Blood (2007) was far more subtle in its depiction of rehearsed speeches and performances as a means of hiding one's darkest emotions. Yet for any of these faults in the script, this is a smart, hysterically funny and heartfelt depiction of the dysfunctional family, with a lovely message at its core about the importance of honesty.
What holds much of this film together and provides the laughs are the dynamics of the Rizzo family. Although Garcia has defined his career by playing hardened men, he rather fittingly displays a number of layers to his character here. He realises the necessity to stamp his authority as a guard but he also has a far more vulnerable side when he grants both the audience and Molly a sense of his guilt about his past and the mistakes that he made. Garcia also holds a number of fine comic touches to contrast the more emotional moments. His nervousness towards the fury of his wife and his initially embarrassing audition for a Scorsese picture offer genuine comic touches to a terrific performance. The casting of Garcia's own daughter is also a clever choice in developing the authenticity of the family dynamics and the way that some of the arguments with Vivian escalate are funny and true. Julianna Margulies has a great time as Joyce, a frustrated and impulsive woman and Ezra Miller also has a few funny moments, though his subplot about his attraction to fat women is the oddity of the picture because it does not tie in as nicely as the others and seems to belong to another film. Emily Mortimer brings a level of sweetness and intelligence to a cute performance and her secret is also a dark and surprisingly touching one.
City Island is a small and perhaps not entirely memorable comedy because of its predictability and contrivances. Yet there are still enough laughs and moments of poignancy to make this one of the more thoughtful and engaging American comedies so far this year. It is still certainly worth seeing for some of the delightful performances, particularly Garcia, who makes this film his own with wonderful comic touches and plenty of heart as well.