There are movies that are made to be admired and there are movies that are made to be enjoyed. The best movies are those that fall into both categories, but they tend to be few and far between. City Island is not one of those movies. It is, however, a perfectly enjoyable film that includes some likable characters and a number of solid laughs.
Honestly, you can't hope for much more when you go to the movies.
The movie gets its title from a section of the Bronx that few people know about. City Island, the town, is an old fishing village and maintains a look and culture more suited to New England than to the Bronx.
Andy Garcia stars as Vince Rizzo, a prison guard and a lifelong resident of City Island. Vince has kept a number of secrets from his family, which includes his wife Joyce, played by the wonderful Julianna Margulies, and his teenage son and college-aged daughter. Vince's first secret is that he wants to be an actor. He goes every week to an acting class and tells Joyce that he's going to a poker game. He'd rather have his wife believe that he's out gambling than have her know he wants to be an actor.
His other major secret involves Tony, one of the inmates at the facility he works at. Tony has been granted a provisional parole, but only if he can find family member to take him in. Vince pulls some strings and gets Tony released into his care, ostensibly because he needs his help converting a boat shed into a bathroom. But, really, it's because of his secret. I won't spoil it here.
Tony's presence in the Rizzo home starts a chain reaction that reveals the secrets of every member of the family. For example, Vince's daughter, Vivian, was actually suspended from school and is covertly working as a stripper. His son, Vince Jr., secretly has a fetish for morbidly overweight women. All of these secrets unfold in a convoluted course of events that, at times, feels more like a TV sitcom than a feature film.
As I said, the movie is not a masterwork of art. The script is a little ham-handed and pedestrian at times. At other points, the acting is a bit stinted and inauthentic. But, as the story moves forward, it's easy to care about the characters, to be amused by their foibles, and to become anxious to learn how everything will get sorted out.
Few actors are as inherently appealing on screen as Andy Garcia, and he puts his amiability to good work in City Island. A scene near the end where he auditions for a movie is a scream.
All in all, I wouldn't bet on City Island winning any awards, but I would strongly recommend it to anyone who just wants to enjoy their time at the movies.
Here's the trailer:
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