Stars: Robert De Niro, Frances McDormand, James Franco, Eliza Dushku, William Forsythe, George Dzundza, Patti Lupone

Director: Michael Caton-Jones

Summary: Vincent has had a long and distinguished career in the police force but he is still suffering from the pain of the break-up with his wife and son, Joey. When Joey becomes involved in a murder charge then Vincent's own failings as a father cause a major crisis in his life - not least as a result of his own father being executed for murder when he was a boy...

In CITY BY THE SEA, Robert De Niro plays Vincent, a New York City cop who is investigating a murder that leads him back to the place where he grew up--Long Beach. A born loner who is pained by his past but never shows it, Vincent rarely opens up to his partner (George Dzunda) or his girlfriend (Frances McDormand). However, when his son Joey (James Franco) is named as the murder suspect, he is challenged to confront his duties as a father and a cop.
A constant dialogue between the good times and the bad, the past and the present, and the choices made along the way gives CITY BY THE SEA an emotional, contemplative edge. In its opening scene, a colorful vintage photograph of the happily crowded seaside at Long Beach in the 1970s fades into the cold gray dilapidated locale of the early 21st Century. Joey has similarly faded from a cheerful young boy to a broken junkie loitering on the boardwalk and living in an abandoned merry-go-round. And while Vincent maintains a contented balance between work and his noncommitted romance, it is clear that he feels his best days have passed. The violence and neglect that permeates life on Long Beach is the evil from which Vincent must now save his son, a gesture which breathes new life and new hope into the family he nearly deserted.

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A welcome throwback to the cop dramas of the 1970s, City by the Seais an average film improved by its cast. Robert De Niro stars as veteran New Jersey detective Vincent LaMarca, lamenting the once-glorious Asbury Park boardwalk, now dilapidated from the decay of changing times. A good cop but a regrettable father, LaMarca must confront past mistakes and repressed memories when his estranged son (James Franco) becomes the prime suspect in the killing of LaMarca's partner (George Dzundza).

There's a nagging inevitability to Ken Hixon's otherwise intelligent screenplay, but De Niro and Frances McDormand--as LaMarca's compassionate neighbour and part-time girlfriend--turn this simmering drama into something deeper than it is. McDormand's role would be thin without the depth and humanity she brings to it and both De Niro and Franco mine gold from their troubling father-son legacy. Based on a true story, City by the Seahas that kernel of authenticity on which good actors thrive. --Jeff Shannon

Main Language:	English
Region:	Region 2
Special Features:	Audio Commentary - Ken Hixon - Writer, Interview - 1. Mark of a Murderer: Six Words About Filmmaking with Michael Caton-Jones, Interactive Menus, Scene Access
Year:	2002
Release Date:	July 14, 2003
Runtime:	104 minutes
Certification:
Catalogue Number:	D 022082
Keywords:	Sea, City, General, Drama
Genre:	Drama