Looking back on this movie, what sticks most in my mind is the scenery. It becomes a character in and of itself. It becomes the visual metaphor for the film’s themes. The title “City by the Sea” refers to this landscape.
It is the bleak landscape of a resort area that had long passed it’s 1950s heyday. The marvelous hotels, malls and boardwalks have been reduced to silent, dilapidated hulks looking at a modern world devoid of the fun and innocence that spurned their creation.
The beach is populated not by families of vacationers, but by those who have fallen through society’s cracks, grinding out a drug-addicted living by committing petty crimes.
Now the memories of a better past and the potential of what this beautiful beach could have been are secondary to the miserable lives of its present occupants. They offer a metaphor for the melancholy message of the movie.
The audience is introduced to detective Vincent La Marca (Robert De Niro, “Ronin”), a grizzled New York homicide detective. He is a detective without sympathy for the sociological or psychological reasons for crime; he simply thinks that when criminals commit crimes, they deserve punishment.
The audience learns that years ago he left his wife and son. His son Joey (James Franco, “Spider-Man”) grew up without a father and eventually resorts to a life on the streets. One night, while under the influence of drugs, Joey kills a man in self-defense. Unfortunately, Joey has nobody to stick up for him. He begins to run — from the police, from his underworld contacts, from his girlfriend and young son.
Meanwhile, Detective La Marca, whose own father had been electrocuted for murder when he was eight, is assigned to his case. When he finds out his son is the chief suspect, he begins to think about the choices he made that could have put his son on a path ending in murder.
If this plot seems like another hunk of junk churned out by Hollywood, think again. In fact, this movie is based on a factual case reported in Vanity Fair. The screenwriter changed a few of the facts, but retained the basic essence of the story.
“City by the Sea” is a movie that is at times profound, dark and disturbing, yet never really entertaining. If you want a movie that will present haunting visual images, this is a decent movie. If you want to watch a movie that keeps your attention and introduces you to interesting characters, this may not be the movie you should see.
For the most part, Academy Award-winner De Niro seems to just be going through the motions. I’d be surprised if he even read the script before he started shooting.
I understand he is one of the most recognized actors of our time; regardless, every scene seemed reminiscent of those performed for practice in an acting class. Despite this sub-par performance, he stood out head and shoulders above the rest of the cast.
Turning in a particularly miserable performance is Frances McDormand (“Fargo”) in her role as Detective La Marca’s girlfriend. Her scenes were undoubtedly the worst in the movie. She refused to react with any sincerity or emotion during the entire picture, except in one scene when she tells La Marca to care for his grandson and stop the cycle of patriarchal abandonment and violence.
This movie’s symbolism and imagery is interesting, despite it’s lacking story. It also dares to ask — unlike the great majority of cop movies — what the causes of crime are and whether the black and white worldview of a “Dirty Harry”-type cop is ideal. The film did present beautiful camera shots as the ghostly exteriors of long, empty luxury hotels glided across the screen. Unfortunately, the pace of the story and the actors failed to create an enjoyable movie-going experience.
Grade ? BC
