 | ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids. |
 | OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | NOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age. |
City by the Sea
- Review Date: May 13, 2003
- R
- Genre: Action/Adventure
- 2002
Common Sense Media says
Ambitious, improbable and very violent cop drama.
Parents say
Kids say
What parents need to know
Parents need to know that the movie has violence, including shooting and murder, graphic drug use, very strong language, and sexual references and situations, including a child born out of wedlock. Characters drink and smoke. There is a reference to domestic abuse. A character attempts suicide.
What's the story?
A boy whose father was executed for murder is raised by the cop who arrested his father. He grows up to be a cop himself (Vincent LaMarca, played by Robert DeNiro), with an exemplary record. A drug dealer's body washes up in Manhattan, where Vincent works. But his driver's license shows that he lived in Long Beach, so Vincent begins a physical and emotional journey to the place he once lived with his wife and son, a once-beautiful, now decayed and deserted beach town. While investigating the murder, Vincent begins to believe that the killer he is looking for could be his own son, Joey, a drug addict.
Is it any good?
CITY BY THE SEA is an ambitious drama that never reaches any of its goals but has some watchable moments along the way. Vincent has survived since he was a child by being unarguably on the side of the good guys to distance himself from his father. He also distances himself from his ex-wife (Patti LuPone), his girlfriend, Michelle (Frances McDormand), and his son, Joey (James Franco, Spider-Man). The pain of his loss is so profound that he cannot bring himself to share it with anyone. Yet he finds himself continuing the cycle of abandonment, and when the movie starts, just before the drug dealer is killed, Vincent has not seen Joey in years.
This is another in the series of movies that the New York Times has called the 2002 summer of the sad fathers (with movies like Minority Report and The Road to Perdition), and, as in Minority Report, there is a maudlin watching-the-old-family-movies scene that feels very heavy-handed. Director Michael Caton-Jones handles the atmosphere well, and DeNiro, McDormand, and LuPone are always worth watching, though this is probably DeNiro's weakest performance, especially in his final scene with his son.
What families can talk about
Families can talk about Vincent's statement that he doesn't like to have dinner at his partner's home because "You got a lot of love in your house and when I go there I feel uncomfortable." Different characters make reference to "the real me" or "the real you." What do they mean? How does the director use the burned-out landscape of Long Beach to tell us something about the characters?
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| Studio: | Warner Bros. |
| Director: | Michael Caton-Jones |
| Cast: | Frances McDormand, James Franco, Robert De Niro |
| Genre: | Action/Adventure |
| Run time: | 108 minutes |
| Theatrical release date: | September 6, 2002 |
| DVD release date: | February 18, 2003 |
| MPAA rating: | R |
| MPAA explanation: | violence, language, and drug use |
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