City Island

Every once in a great while a comedy true to life is delivered and makes us appreciate that it does not remind us of us. The last one that I can think of would be Little Miss Sunshine. They are no frills, no action, no over the top sequences involving ex boxers or extra large jungle cats. They are character and dialogue driven and City Island has been on my mind ever since the day I watched it a couple days ago. Andy Garcia plays Vincent Rizzo, a prison guard....I mean Correctional Officer. Sorry Vince, please forgive me. Vincent has lived on the island his whole life and has a very interesting dialogue about people like him and the other residents on the island. His wife is Joyce (The under appreciated Julianna Margulies). The language is what really makes this a great watch. He and his family, well wife anyway, carry on with thick Italian accents and extreme body language. These two people have been married for 20 years, which is equivalent to about 130 years for single people. It takes a toll to say the least. These two do love each other, but they (She) has trust issues. Let's just say the only one in the whole family that's the least bit honest is the 17 year old son. He steals the show when he is on screen with his nail on the head outlook on everything. He tells it how it is, and pisses his parents off, but they also know he is right. Oh yeah, and he has a feederism fetish which plays really well with all the other dysfunctionality going on. He is not ashamed of it though, which is more than most people can say about their quirks and fetishes. Everyone in the family hides something from each other which turns into quite the ironic twist. What they hide from each other, they both do, so it's kind of a waste of time and stress. One day Vince is confronted with his past. It slaps him in the face, so to speak. It is a regret he has had for most of his adult life and now is the time he feels he must fix it. He adopts a prisoner from the place he works. He and his wife have some classic arguments. The entire family dynamic of City Island is what makes it special. I cannot imagine living in fear of my spouse as he does. He cannot express his passion and is constantly going to "a poker game", which his wife is very suspicious of. By the end we kind of expect the family to be torn apart, or a murder, but where it goes is so brilliant. The funny thing is that between the parents and their son and daughter, the one who finally speaks straight with them is the ex prisoner. I absolutely loved this film and with it On Demand, I don't doubt I will watch a few more times minimum. Don't miss out on one of the most genuine real comedies of the last decade.

NBM rates City Island - Phenomenal

Buy It!!!!