City Island [2009]

This easygoing indie movie is something that you need to check out. Although not so serious as American Beauty or some other movies dealing with similar fucked up family subject it still deals with the same issue but in a comical way. Many compared it to Little Miss Sunshine, but I wouldn’t go that far. While LMS works universally with a story that continually transcends the characters and vice versa, here we have a somewhat smaller beam that will highlight problems but without that universal lesson or subject. The real oddball circle jerk we might call it.

The Rizzos are a strange family and every member has a secret that they are not willing to share with the others. The head of the family, Vince Rizzo, a prison guard with acting ambitions, one day brings home a convict to help him build a backyard shed. But he will do so much more for them. With a great cast and amazing script this movie is pure gold, it is entertaining and slightly disturbing at times, but great script is something that just blew me away. The humor is subtle it and it is not cheap, such a rare thing in today’s in-your-face movies. It does not try to be big and it does not get caught up in some lame TV movie plots and characters. Since our society has shunned science we are left with these movies as witness of sociological and psychological problems that are plaguing our society. The dissonance between the conventional family rules and the reality is always a good subject, enjoy…

Director: Raymond De Felitta

Cast: Andy Garcia, Julianna Margulies, Steven Strait, Dominik García-Lorido, Ezra Miller

Fun Stuff: Vivian Dominik García-Lorido plays the daughter of Vincent Rizzo Andy Garcia. Dominik García-Lorido is in fact the daughter of Andy Garcia.

Rating:

IMDb Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1174730/