Cast: Robert De Niro, Frances McDormand, James Franco, Eliza Dushku, William Forsythe, George Dzundza, Patti LuPone
Director: Michael Caton-Jones
Producers: Matthew Baer, Michael Caton-Jones, Brad Grey, Elie Samaha
Screenplay: Ken Hixon, based on the article "Mark of a Murderer" by Michael McAlary
Cinematography: Karl Walter Lindenlaub
Music: John Murphy
U.S. Distributor: Warner Brothers
The City by the Sea of the title is Long Beach, New York - once a resort town like so many others, now a classic portrait of urban decay. It's a story that has been repeated in lakeside and oceanfront locales all around the country. A generation ago, certain beaches were crammed with happy families; now, many of those places have grown desolate and forgotten as vacationers have moved on to the newest trendy spot. (See John Sayles' Sunshine State.) Against the backdrop represented by stark images of abandoned buildings and lost dreams, the tale that is City by the Sea emerges, with the power of the visual cues giving this film its forcefulness.
City by the Sea is loosely based on the 1997 Esquire article, "Mark of a Murderer", by Michael McAlary. To its credit, the movie does not use the "inspired by true events" blurb, although the alterations to the historical record are less blatant than in some pictures that have shown such a caption. Another brave move by the filmmakers is to retain shots containing the World Trade Center, even though those images could easily have been removed without damaging the movie's flow. I appreciate a motion picture that is willing to acknowledge that the Twin Towers once existed.
Turning his back on the comedic roles that have absurdly become his recent bread-and-butter, Robert De Niro returns to a straight part - that of homicide detective Vincent LaMarca, a Manhattan cop who is investigating the death of a low-level drug dealer who went by the street name of "Picasso". Aided by his stalwart partner and friend, Reg (George Dzundza), Vincent returns to his old stomping grounds of Long Beach, from which the dead man hailed. For Vincent, it's hardly a stroll down memory lane. The decrepit, vacant wasteland of today, which is infested with drug addicts and the homeless, is nothing like the resort that looms in his sepia-toned memories. But Long Beach's decay mirrors Vincent's life. His marriage to Maggie (Patti LuPone) ended in a bitter divorce that resulted in Vincent turning his back not only on his ex-wife, but on his son, Joey (James Franco). Now, to Vincent's shock, it appears that Joey may be Picasso's killer, forcing him to make a choice between being a cop (a job at which he has been inarguably good) and being a father (a job at which he has been inarguably bad).
But other issues complicate the picture. Vincent's relationship with his own father, a convicted child killer who was executed in 1959, was not straightforward. He has co-mingled, unresolved feelings of love and hatred for the man who abandoned him for the electric chair. And Joey is not just a son, but a father as well. He and his junkie girlfriend, Gina (Eliza Dushku), have a young toddler, who, like Joey and Vincent before him, may have to grow up with an absent male figure. The final characters in the drama are Michelle (Frances McDormand), Vincent's girlfriend, and Spyuder (William Forsythe), Picasso's vicious boss.
Director Michael Caton-Jones (Rob Roy) employs an unhurried style atypical of cop movies. The reason for this is that the thriller/mystery elements are secondary to the film's deeper aspects - those of how fathers and sons relate to one another (a theme also explored in this summer's Road to Perdition) and how the lives of individuals can echo the life of a community. One could argue that Caton-Jones overplays the link between Vincent and Long Beach, but his depiction of the lost town is powerful and leaves a lasting impression. (The film caused me to think about the changes undergone by some of the places in which my family spent summers when I was a child.)
The acting is superlative. Robert De Niro, freed from the mantle of having to be the straight man in a comedy (something that has afflicted him of late - see Analyze This, Meet the Parents, and Showtime for examples), returns to form, giving a convincing, intense portrayal of a man trapped between loyalty to his career and guilt for the son he failed. James Franco is nearly as good as Joey, a man who too easily blames the wreck of his life on his absent father. Strong supporting work is provided by George Dzundza as the stereotypical "good cop", Frances McDormand as the "girl in 3A", and William Forsythe as the conscienceless bad guy. However, the real standout is Eliza Dushku, whose powerhouse portrayal of Gina allows her to steal every scene in which she appears, including those played opposite De Niro.
If there's a weakness in City by the Sea, it's that the ending is too pat, the resolution too facile. But, until the closing moments, this is a motion picture of real character - a film that tells a compelling story in a way that raises issues and questions beyond what one expects from a genre picture. The movie probably won't do well at the box office because it's virtually impossible to sell a film where the real power and strength lie in the subtext, but those who venture into a theater playing City by the Sea will find their two hours well spent.
© 2002 James Berardinelli