An officer and a secretive gentleman
Vince (Andy Garcia) insists on being called a corrections officer, not a prison guard. (Anchor Bay Films)
City Island
Running time: 103 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13 (profanity, adult situations, smoking)
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When a husband has to stick his head out of the roof of his house to smoke a cigarette and read a book, there's a good chance that secrets are lurking.
"City Island," with an ensemble cast led by Andy Garcia and Julianna Margulies, sparkles as a witty gem of a dysfunctional family comedy-with-drama.
You might think of "Little Miss Sunshine" right off, especially when Alan Arkin, who took home an Oscar as grumpy grandpa in "Little Miss Sunshine," shows up as an egomaniac Manhattan acting teacher.
Even though this is a tribute to indie filmmaking in an economically strapped society, "City Island" finds its own solid footing and identity. There is no need for this film, written and directed by Raymond De Felitta ("The Thing About My Folks"), to grasp onto any previous film's coattails.
Garcia (an Oscar nominee for "The Godfather: Part III" in 1990), also draws a producer credit. He's Vince Rizzo, a prison guard who steadfastly prefers the term "corrections officer." Vince, his distant, but very vocal wife Joyce (Margulies) and somewhat bizarre teenage son Vinnie Jr. (Ezra Miller) live in a blue collar island hamlet called City Island in New York's North Bronx.
Don't worry if you've never heard of this tiny outer borough town. Neither had filmmaker De Felitta (a New Yorker) until he read about it as a New York getaway destination. It's the perfect locale for a tale like this to unfold, though. In the background, Manhattan looms large; a place where dreams might just come true.
What I like best about "City Island" is that everyone has an unfulfilled dream or secret they're hiding. White lies fill the air like fireflies on a summer's night. Vince notices his long-lost son Tony (Steven Strait) in prison lock-up one day, and brings him home.
Lie No. 1: Tony is just some con Vince took under his wing to help him with a construction project in the back yard. Lie No. 2: Vince tries to convince Tony of the same thing.
And so it goes. Vince's innermost secret, however, is that he's always wanted to be an actor. So he lies and tells the wife that he's attending a weekly poker game, even though he's off to Manhattan and acting class with Malakov (Arkin).
That's just the tip of the deception iceberg. This film's press notes proclaim "City Island" a "perfect storm of deception." I wouldn't go that far, but it's solidly in the arena. College-student daughter Vivian, played by Garcia's daughter Dominik Garcia-Loridc, also carries the torch of untruths. Vivian takes the idea of being kicked out of college and covering it up to new, not-so-covered-up levels.
Garcia is obviously having fun playing the gruff husband and father who melts under the spell of acting and his acting partner, a mystery lady portrayed with style by Emily Mortimer. Margulies, on TV these days in “The Good Wife” (although I still think of her from “ER”), fidgets and flirts admirably as bored, neglected Mom.
De Felitta lets things sway a little too much in the direction of soap opera melodrama a few times, especially in the give-and-take between Margulies and Strait (as the recently released prisoner).
Generally, though, "City Island" beguiles and delights as a tangled web of deception that blusters its way to entertaining resolution.
"City Island," with an ensemble cast led by Andy Garcia and Julianna Margulies, sparkles as a witty gem of a dysfunctional family comedy-with-drama.
You might think of "Little Miss Sunshine" right off, especially when Alan Arkin, who took home an Oscar as grumpy grandpa in "Little Miss Sunshine," shows up as an egomaniac Manhattan acting teacher.
Even though this is a tribute to indie filmmaking in an economically strapped society, "City Island" finds its own solid footing and identity. There is no need for this film, written and directed by Raymond De Felitta ("The Thing About My Folks"), to grasp onto any previous film's coattails.
Garcia (an Oscar nominee for "The Godfather: Part III" in 1990), also draws a producer credit. He's Vince Rizzo, a prison guard who steadfastly prefers the term "corrections officer." Vince, his distant, but very vocal wife Joyce (Margulies) and somewhat bizarre teenage son Vinnie Jr. (Ezra Miller) live in a blue collar island hamlet called City Island in New York's North Bronx.
Don't worry if you've never heard of this tiny outer borough town. Neither had filmmaker De Felitta (a New Yorker) until he read about it as a New York getaway destination. It's the perfect locale for a tale like this to unfold, though. In the background, Manhattan looms large; a place where dreams might just come true.
What I like best about "City Island" is that everyone has an unfulfilled dream or secret they're hiding. White lies fill the air like fireflies on a summer's night. Vince notices his long-lost son Tony (Steven Strait) in prison lock-up one day, and brings him home.
Lie No. 1: Tony is just some con Vince took under his wing to help him with a construction project in the back yard. Lie No. 2: Vince tries to convince Tony of the same thing.
And so it goes. Vince's innermost secret, however, is that he's always wanted to be an actor. So he lies and tells the wife that he's attending a weekly poker game, even though he's off to Manhattan and acting class with Malakov (Arkin).
That's just the tip of the deception iceberg. This film's press notes proclaim "City Island" a "perfect storm of deception." I wouldn't go that far, but it's solidly in the arena. College-student daughter Vivian, played by Garcia's daughter Dominik Garcia-Loridc, also carries the torch of untruths. Vivian takes the idea of being kicked out of college and covering it up to new, not-so-covered-up levels.
Garcia is obviously having fun playing the gruff husband and father who melts under the spell of acting and his acting partner, a mystery lady portrayed with style by Emily Mortimer. Margulies, on TV these days in “The Good Wife” (although I still think of her from “ER”), fidgets and flirts admirably as bored, neglected Mom.
De Felitta lets things sway a little too much in the direction of soap opera melodrama a few times, especially in the give-and-take between Margulies and Strait (as the recently released prisoner).
Generally, though, "City Island" beguiles and delights as a tangled web of deception that blusters its way to entertaining resolution.
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