City by the Sea (2002)

User Rating:

6.1/10   

Director:

Michael Caton-Jones

Writers (WGA):

Mike McAlary (article)
Ken Hixon (screenplay)

Release Date:

6 September 2002 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

When you're searching for a killer... the last suspect you want to see is your son.

Plot:

Vincent Lamarca, whose father was executed for a 1950s kidnapping of a child, grew up to become a police officer, only to see his own son become a murderer.

Plot Keywords:

Beach | New York | New York City | Grandson | Police

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Robert De Niro	...	Vincent LaMarca
Frances McDormand	...	Michelle
James Franco	...	Joey
Eliza Dushku	...	Gina
William Forsythe	...	Spyder
Patti LuPone	...	Maggie (as Patti Lupone)
Anson Mount	...	Dave Simon
John Doman	...	Henderson
Brian Tarantina	...	Snake
Drena De Niro	...	Vanessa Hansen
Michael P. Moran	...	Herb
Nestor Serrano	...	Rossi
Matthew Cowles	...	Arnie
Linda Emond	...	Margery
Cyrus Farmer	...	Carl

Also Known As:

Mark of a Murderer (USA) (working title)
The Suspect (Philippines: English title)

MPAA:

Rated R for language, drug use and some violence.

Runtime:

108 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

USA:R (certificate #38840) | Iceland:14 (original rating) | Iceland:16 (video rating) | Malaysia:18SG (uncut version) | Malaysia:U (cut version) | Portugal:M/12 (original rating) | Singapore:M18 | New Zealand:R16 | Argentina:13 | Australia:MA | Brazil:16 | Canada:14A | Finland:K-15 | Germany:12 | Norway:15 | Peru:14 | Philippines:R-13 | Spain:13 | UK:15 (original rating) | UK:18 (video rating) (2003) | Canada:A (Ontario)

Filming Locations:

Asbury Park, New Jersey, USA

Company:

Franchise Pictures

Trivia:

Robert De Niro personally had James Franco cast, after viewing his performance in James Dean (2001) (TV).

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Joey and his Father are in the building surrounded by cops, and Joey fires the gun into the floor, the cop outside in the police car nearest the camera makes his hands into a gun shape instead of pointing a real gun.

Quotes:

Spyder: [to Gina at the drive-thru speaker] I'll have a bacon cheeseburger and a blowjob.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Film Geek (2005)

Soundtrack:

Rainbow Prelude

Gritty Drama More Than A Crime Film

This is a somewhat run-of-the-mill modern-day crime movie elevated by the presence of actor Robert De Niro. He plays a policeman who is a father to his druggie son, who is accused of murder.

"Vincent LaMarca" (De Niro) is torn between the guilt of being an absentee father to his kid ("Joey," played by James Franco) but still loving him enough to help him and yet still be a good, honest cop.

This is a gritty film, a bid sordid in spots. The locale is a grimy Atlantici City-type on-the- skids town by the ocean. It isn't pretty. As tough as the story can be, it's still interesting and recommended as a decent crime film. Actually, it's much more of a drama than an action-crime film....but I liked it. It's an interesting character study, as well.