City Island takes its name from a small seaside community that is an offshoot of the Bronx. Overlooking Long Island Sound, City Island is the home to many fishermen and seafood restaurants. Those who live on City Island and were physically born on said island are known as “clam diggers,” while transplants are known as “mussel suckers.”
The film, City Island centers on one such clam digger in Vince Rizzo (Andy Garcia), who still occupies the same house built by his grandfather. Vince is the patriarch to a boisterous Italian-American family, the kind that snaps at each other during their pasta dinner. Though he works as a corrections officer, he grew up admiring Marlon Brando and has always held aspirations of becoming an actor. He hides in the bathroom so nobody knows he smokes and reads, An Actor Prepares. It is only recently that he has enrolled in acting classes held by an embittered instructor (Alan Arkin). Vince befriends a fellow student in Molly Charlesworth (Emily Mortimer) who convinces him to go to his first ever audition.
However, Vince hasn’t told anyone about all this. Proud and prideful, Vince feels just a little ashamed of indulging in something so antithetical of his blue-collar background. He makes up a flimsy excuse about going to a weekly poker game. His wife, Joyce (Julianna Margulies), sees through his ruse, but mistakenly believes he is having an affair. Clandestine acting courses are the least of Vince’s secrets.
On duty, Vince meets a new prisoner named Tony (Steven Strait), who turns out to actually be his illegitimate son from a previous relationship, a fact that the elder Rizzo keeps to himself. Vince takes responsibility for the troubled young man and gets him released into his care. Joyce takes issue with Vince bringing a convict into their home. Combined with her suspicions of adultery, she begins growing closer to the scruffy hunk.
Mr. and Mrs. Rizzo aren’t the only ones keeping secrets from the family. Their daughter, Vivian (played by Garcia’s real-life daughter Dominik Garcia-Lorido), had her scholarship revoked and is now working as a stripper to pay tuition. Son, Vince Jr. (Ezra Miller), has a strange fetish for watching overweight women cook and eat.
City Island is a comedy of errors and something of a restrained farce. Misunderstandings pile on top of misunderstandings until everything comes to a head in the climax. Secrets are spilled and heartfelt confessions are made as the characters embrace. There’s a definite sitcom feel to the plot. It’s doubtful that I need to issue a spoiler warning when I say lessons are learned and all the subplots are tied up with a neat, little bow. The story relies mainly on contrivances and simple coincidence to advance the narrative.
The film is lifted from its conventional trappings by the bucolic setting of City Island and the strong performances of its cast. Andy Garcia gets a rare chance to stretch his comedic muscles as the working class Vince. He gets a chance to lampoon the tough guy roles he’s known for. Julianna Marguiles (who has recently made a full-time return to acting on CBS’s The Good Wife) plays the no-nonsense matriarch and has some great scenes with Garcia. Alan Arkin brings the same curmudgeon charm from Little Miss Sunshine for his brief scenes here. Emily Mortimer adds a sweet-natured layer to her character. Her interactions with Vince convey a genuine friendship with a very subtle level of attraction that remains unrequited.
Only Vince Jr. remains a question mark though it is through no fault of Ezra Miller. As the awkward teenage son, he’s far too broadly drawn to truly be interesting.
City Island was directed by Raymond De Felitta and based off a script he originally wrote back in 2001. The film won the Audience Award at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2009. It’s easy to see why. City Island is a light and breezy comedy about the craziness that comes with family.
Rating: **
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