'City by the Sea' belongs to a group of dramatic thrillers that are made too much. I don't say they are not nice in their own way, it just that we can guess how things will happen. Here we deal with a junkie named Joey (James Franco) who kills a dealer. We can sort of say it was self defense. The police of course does not know this and it does not take long for them to know who the killer of the dealer is. As it turns out he is the son of cop Vincent LaMarca (Robert De Niro), who walked out on his son and wife fourteen years ago. LaMarca's father was executed when he was eight because he killed a baby and that makes sure the case of the son does not stand strong. The plot thickens when LaMarca's partner is killed. We know another dealer, Spyder (William Forsythe) who wants to kill Joey out of revenge, is responsible for this but again, the police does not know this. We also learn that Joey has a kid with Gina (Eliza Dushku).
The is the set-up for what I thought to be a thriller. Yes, it sometimes is, but this movie gets a little better because it wants to have its focus on the dramatic elements in the story. For example, we also meet the mother of Joey and the scene is short but pretty well written (and played) leaving us with another secret that has to be dealt with. Another important character is Michelle (Frances McDormand), LaMarca's downstairs neighbor with whom he has a relationship. She is not just a character to complicate things, but she really has a role in all of it. Of course the movie takes the save turns and especially the ending was not that good, but for a movie like this it is not bad at all.
Robert De Niro has not made many great movies the last couple of years but as an actor he always stays dependable. Here again he makes the movie better than it is, giving depth to his character. McDormand also has a quality that makes a character a real person instead of a tool in a plot. That the movie is not great is probably expected by everyone who will see this movie. The reasons to see it are exactly the expectations you have with this kind of movie.
The is the set-up for what I thought to be a thriller. Yes, it sometimes is, but this movie gets a little better because it wants to have its focus on the dramatic elements in the story. For example, we also meet the mother of Joey and the scene is short but pretty well written (and played) leaving us with another secret that has to be dealt with. Another important character is Michelle (Frances McDormand), LaMarca's downstairs neighbor with whom he has a relationship. She is not just a character to complicate things, but she really has a role in all of it. Of course the movie takes the save turns and especially the ending was not that good, but for a movie like this it is not bad at all.
Robert De Niro has not made many great movies the last couple of years but as an actor he always stays dependable. Here again he makes the movie better than it is, giving depth to his character. McDormand also has a quality that makes a character a real person instead of a tool in a plot. That the movie is not great is probably expected by everyone who will see this movie. The reasons to see it are exactly the expectations you have with this kind of movie.