City Island
Cinema Nova, 26/06/2010
Status: Behind by an even 22 movies
Similar to the way big films with lots of hype often disappoint me, small films with nary a whisper of promotion or marketing often surprise. Like City Island.
The plot is Greek-tragedy simple: Each member of a family on the brink of holding it together is at pains to hide what they think is a shameful secret. Enter a stranger to stir things up.
The refreshingly simple plot allows for complex characters and calls for extraordinary actors to pull it of. And they do. ANDY GARCIA (the Ocean’s movies) and JULIA MARGULIES (TV’s The Good Wife) are outstanding as the parents of the self-combusting family, and the kids, played by EZRA MILLER and DOMINIK GARCIA-LORIDO (who is actually Andy Garcia’s daughter) reminded me that it’s possible for kids in American movies to not be completely screwed up or revoltingly sugar-coated. And STEVEN STRAIT is really something as the stranger.
The real joy of this film is writer-director RAYMOND DE FELITTA’s deadpan-ness. All the pathos and humour is so subtley delivered that it somehow resonates as sadder and funnier that it would otherwise have done. Which is a delightful surprise in a film that quietly, assuredly, presents itself without a whisper of hype.
