City Island (2009)

This little family farce was thoroughly satisfying from start to finish--lots of laughs with characters we really liked. The Rizzo family lives on City Island, a real island that is technically part of Bronx NY, in a house that Vince (Andy Garcia)'s family has occupied for generations. Julianna Margulies plays Vince's wife Joyce, and the nearly grown kids are Ezra Miller as Vince Jr. and Dominik García-Lorido (Garcia's actual daughter) as Vivian. 

It could have been called Secrets and Lies but that title was taken. In this movie everybody's got something to hide (there's no monkey, for you Beatle fans out there). OK, where was I? Oh yeah. Something to hide. The secrets aren't a big deal, but I won't reveal them, as every other reviewer and blogger has, because that's the way I roll. The funniest secret is Vince Jr.'s, and Miller is one funny teenager (if you've seen Californication on Showtime or Royal Pains on USA--both are in my post about TV last fall, you'll recognize his face, though he played it straighter in those shows--the pilot of Royal Pains is going to be repeated Saturday May 8 at 2:30 AM). 

Garcia (Oscar-nominated for The Godfather: Part III (1990), he has a ton of credits; some of my favorites were the soapy When a Man Loves a Woman (1994) with Meg Ryan; Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead (1995) and The Man from Elysian Fields (2001) (both were noir and the latter co-starred Margulies as well as Mick Jaggar); and The Lost City (2005), about his birthplace: Havana in the 1950s, which he directed, produced, composed music for and starred in) is terrific as the corrections officer (there's a running gag about "prison guard"). Margulies (I've been enjoying The Good Wife on CBS; I remember her from ER and her story arc on The Sopranos) is lovely in this, with her heavily made up hazel eyes and big temper. 

Some have complained about the arguing family scenes. Jack, Mary Ellen, Dan, and I thought they were hilarious. We laughed out loud a whole lot. Nice that Garcia could have his daughter in it, though I don't think her part adds nor subtracts from the sum. Emily Mortimer (loved her in Lovely & Amazing (2001), Match Point (2005), and Lars and the Real Girl (2007), among others), though, adds a lot with her delicate English accent and looks, and Steven Strait, as Tony, is easy on the eyes. Alan Arkin brings plenty of humor to his scenes as the frustrated teacher. 

What I didn't realize until researching this is that writer/director Raymond De Felitta wrote and directed Two Family House (2000), a Sundance Audience Award winner, which I loved. Taking place on another NYC island, Staten, it starred Irishwoman Kelly Macdonald and Italian-American Michael Rispoli in an unlikely alliance. The music, by Polish composer Jan A.P. Kaczmarek (Oscar winner for Finding Neverland (2004), lovely scores for Unfaithful (2002) (here's a clip), Evening (2007), and The Visitor-another clip) is good, and reelsoundtrack has posted a list of the songs. 

City Island has a high rating of 84% on rottentomatoes. Try it. You'll like it.