City Island (2009)

Well, well, in this movie are so many coincidences meeting together to be credible, but apparently is one of those movies that Americans love (just look at that score on IMDb, which seems a bit undeserved).***BIG spoiler***A dysfunctional family —that really is not so— in the midst of a lot of happy coincidences that lead them to... well, to the usual place. Four members family, boy, girl, mom, dad; beautiful (and kind of exotic) urban landscape, nice house, everything seems to be wrong but —don't worry, because, as you expected...— it will be fixed, magically.***END of the BIG spoiler***Sometimes wants to be a comedy, but I do not laugh at all, sometimes intended to have the realistic touch of family drama, but fails.To spend an hour and a half lightly, after suspension of disbelief.

A dysfunctional family living on a picturesque island in the Bronx spares no expense in avoiding the truth about their messed-up lives in writer/director Raymond de Felitta's dark family comedy. The family patriarch, Vince (Andy Garcia) is a prison guard who is secretly plotting a new career as an actor. Meanwhile, as Vince takes acting lessons on the down low, his daughter moonlights as a stripper and his younger namesake harbors a secret fetish that involves the family's 300-pound neighbor. Under normal circumstances Vincent's wife, Joyce (Julianna Margulies), would be the family rock, but lately she's been preoccupied with uncovering the identity of the hired help, a secret that only her husband knows.

City Island is a pretty neutral movie that deals with secrets and lies within families. By neutral I mean that I wasn't bored watching it and found it quite entertaining but the plot didn't pin me to my seat either. There is a fistful of good actors : namely Andy Garcia, Julianna Margulies and Ezra Miller. The latter being the most interesting one and the reason why I watched City Island in the first place... OK, Andy Garcia in the role of the wannabe-actor is not so bad either. The characters are very relatable as they have common jobs or activities and their fair share of problems. The Rizzo family has secrets like any other and thinks that keeping them hidden from their relatives will prevent a major crisis. Obviously, they'll discover that their secrets are the root of their family issues. I liked that City Island treated several topics like past mistakes, aspirations, and uncommon desires. I enjoyed discovering another part of New York City that isn't usually shown. It's a nice part of the Northern suburbs that is revealed : definitely another perspective of the Bronx.1 reason to watch it : a light story good enough to relax after work. Read it here: http://squeerelist.blogspot.com/2013/05/city-island- 2009.html

Wonderful movie. You laugh easily!But The only thing i wonder is what the purpose of Ezra Miller's character, Vince Jr, was. I mean, the father, the mother and the daughter had their secrets revealed in a very awkward and funny moment. The son's didn't exploded. In my opinion, the director & writer already had his movie without him.That's why i'll not give him a straight A. But 8 out of 10 is already good, isn't it?Anyway, it's a good comedy. I strongly recommend y'all to see it, you sure at hell will not regret.