Review Copyright Rose Cooper, 2002

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If triple-redlight reviews are a delight to write, and greenlight films, a delight to watch, then it should come as no surprise that middling yellowlight-worthy movies are a disappointment for the virtual pen and the eye. THE STORY (WARNING: **spoilers contained below**) New York City homicide detective Vincent LaMarca (Robert De Niro) is a cop with major Drama in his life. For Vincent, the saying "you can't go home again" rings particularly true. His old home, Long Beach ("the city by the sea"), is a shadow of its former illustrious self - and Vincent no longer wishes to live amongst the shadows. Emotionally scarred from being the son of an executed kidnapper and the ex-husband of Maggie (Patti LuPone), the poster child for bitchdom, Vincent finds himself unable to let his guard down with new girlfriend (sorta) Michelle (Frances McDormand). But Vincent is the only hope of salvation for his strung-out, estranged junkie son, Joey (James Franco), after Joey is accused of murdering a drug dealer, and later, a Real Important Person. It's not just the cops who are out to get Joey, though; the drug dealer's supplier, Spyder (William Forsythe) is also after Joey. What with Joey being full of blame and hate for his father, it's not clear whether he cares who catches him first. THE UPSHOT When I made mention earlier of the similarities between Al Pacino and Robert De Niro - that both are capable of greatness, but too dependent on old crutches, lately - I wasn't just blowing literary smoke. And, as I feared, De Niro pulled out his "sullen aging cop" crutch again in City By The Sea. While it's understood that one of LaMarca's traits is that the Drama of his past has caused him to be emotionally distant, the overabundance of such distance from almost all of the characters, makes it hard for the audience to invest in anything that comes across the screen. Time after time, scene after scene, in frame after frame, the phrase "...and?" came to mind. That may be fine when one is considering the umpteenth time Character A is picking up Character B from an underexplained job, but the lack of interesting payoff from damn near any scene, came to be excruciatingly irritating. What was most frustrating about this movie is that it had all the makings of a good, tight film. City has good actors (De Niro, Frances McDormand, Patti LuPone, Nestor Serrano, and even though his mere mention in the opening credits telegraphed what his character would be, William Forsythe), in a based-on-truth story that resonated with potential drama and intrigue...but somewhere along the way, the folks behind the film forgot to make it interesting. Particularly grating - even above De Niro's sleepwalking journey up until the mostly exciting last few minutes - were two of the triad of women holding this story up. McDormand's Michelle was a total waste of space; I neither understood, nor cared anything about, this character. As much as I dig McDormand in quirky roles, I feel she was miscast here. LuPone, too, was a pain; sure, the real Maggie and Vincent may have been having Issues that led to their divorce (and, as this movie tells it, to all the Bad Stuff Joey went through), but her one-sided shrew act just had me reaching for the non-existent volume button. Only Eliza Dushku, as a recovering junkie trying to pull her life together, seemed to have any emotional input in this story. Her Gina was the only character I gave half a damn about. And, considering one of the themes this movie harps on - the domino effect estrangement can play on a family - that's a damned shame. De Niro does come through in the final moments with some emotion the audience could grab hold to; but by that time, it's too little, too late for the LaMarcas - and for the viewing audience. BAMMER'S BOTTOM LINE City By The Sea was not bad, per se; but when it comes to my movie dollar, "not bad, per se" is not good enough. CITY BY THE SEA:   back to top And that's the way I see it. Rose "Bams" Cooper 3BlackChicks Review™ Copyright Rose Cooper, 2002 EMAIL: bams@3blackchicks.com    ICQ: 7760005 http://www.3blackchicks.com/