"City Island" is another of a series of quirky independent films about oddball American families. If you liked "Little Miss Sunshine" and "Juno," you will probably like "City Island." It is one of the funniest movies I have seen in a long time.
"City Island" is about a family in the Bronx that lies to each other. The dad, played by Andy Garcia, is a prison guard that tells his family that he is playing poker several times a week but really he isn't. His deep, dark secret is that he is taking acting lessons and aspires to be an actor. He also conceived a child with a women he knew before he met his wife that he never told them about. The daughter is supposed to be off at college but she is really working as a stripper. The son has a fetish for overweight women and is secretly surfing BBW websites. Everyone in the family smokes but they all hide it from each other because they all told each other that they quit.
I was never really a fan of Andy Garcia when he was playing bad guys and cops. I wasn't sure he would be a good comedic actor but he really nails this role. He has great comedic timing and he makes his flawed character really sympathetic. He should really do more comedy.
Julianna Margulies is excellent as the mother that everyone lies to. She should do more movies. It was nice seeing Alan Arkin in a role that is different than the one he played in "Little Miss Sunshine" and "Sunshine Cleaning." He plays the acting instructor in the class that Andy Garcia is taking. Emily Mortimer is Andy Garcia's acting partner in the class and she has her own secrets. Steven Strait plays Andy Garcia's secret love child, only his character does't know that Andy Garcia is his father. He has to live with the family as part of his parole and he is caught in the middle of all the lying. If Dominik García-Lorido looks like she could really be Andy Garcia's daughter, it is because she is.
I can't remember the last time a movie made me laugh out loud as much as "City Island." The film goes by quick and it is really funny. This is a gem that needs to be seen by more people.
"City Island" is about a family in the Bronx that lies to each other. The dad, played by Andy Garcia, is a prison guard that tells his family that he is playing poker several times a week but really he isn't. His deep, dark secret is that he is taking acting lessons and aspires to be an actor. He also conceived a child with a women he knew before he met his wife that he never told them about. The daughter is supposed to be off at college but she is really working as a stripper. The son has a fetish for overweight women and is secretly surfing BBW websites. Everyone in the family smokes but they all hide it from each other because they all told each other that they quit.
I was never really a fan of Andy Garcia when he was playing bad guys and cops. I wasn't sure he would be a good comedic actor but he really nails this role. He has great comedic timing and he makes his flawed character really sympathetic. He should really do more comedy.
Julianna Margulies is excellent as the mother that everyone lies to. She should do more movies. It was nice seeing Alan Arkin in a role that is different than the one he played in "Little Miss Sunshine" and "Sunshine Cleaning." He plays the acting instructor in the class that Andy Garcia is taking. Emily Mortimer is Andy Garcia's acting partner in the class and she has her own secrets. Steven Strait plays Andy Garcia's secret love child, only his character does't know that Andy Garcia is his father. He has to live with the family as part of his parole and he is caught in the middle of all the lying. If Dominik García-Lorido looks like she could really be Andy Garcia's daughter, it is because she is.
I can't remember the last time a movie made me laugh out loud as much as "City Island." The film goes by quick and it is really funny. This is a gem that needs to be seen by more people.