Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

City Island Blu-ray Movie Review

Another fun and well-made below-the-radar picture from Anchor Bay earns a quality Blu-ray release.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman August 28, 2010

Greek in scope.

It's not really a Greek tragedy; it's not that big in scope; and it has no historical, moral, or other resonance; but City Island is a mostly fun and entertaining picture that takes a snapshot in the week of the life of a typically atypical dysfunctional movie family from the Bronx. Well, OK, they're actually from City Island, a little waterfront community just outside the borough where longtime residents with deep roots are known as "Clam Diggers" while those that have moved there from somewhere else are referred to as "Muscle Suckers." Don't worry, that doesn't have any real relevance to the story, other than as a means of introduction for the dynamic that sees an outsider and a calming influence enter into a loud and obnoxious family on the brink of tearing itself apart. Directed by Raymond De Felitta (The Thing About My Folks) and starring Andy Garcia (The Untouchables) as the family's troubled patriarch Vince Rizzo who harbors several not-so-dark but nevertheless in his mind end-of-the-world caliber secrets that he fights to keep hidden from his, to be kind, CRAZY family, City Island proves a worthwhile and sometimes touching picture, even through all of the headache-inducing screaming and shouting that make the Rizzo's one of cinema's most cringe-worthy but at the same time surprisingly sweet and even slightly relatable amped-up and over-exaggerated families.

Dinner with the Rizzos -- but different from the supplement of the same name.

Vince Rizzo (Garcia) works a dead-end job as a security guard (sorry, "correctional officer") at a local jail. It's there that he just so happens to meet his long-lost illegitimate son, Tony Nardella (Steven Strait, 10,000 BC), who's serving a prison term. Without divulging Tony's true identity to anyone, Vince secures his release and takes him home in hopes of forming a bond with the son he never knew. There's only one problem, though: Tony's not his late mother's biggest fan, and before he knows who Vince really is, he shares his disdain for his biological father, too. As if that weren't enough, Vince is secretly taking acting classes behind his wife Joyce's (Julianna Margulies, Snakes on a Plane) back, fearing that she'll only laugh at and discourage his dreams to fulfill a childhood fantasy and do something more with his life. At class, Vince meets the mysterious Molly (Emily Mortimer, Harry Brown) who encourages his acting career and points him towards an audition that could very well change his life. Meanwhile, Joyce develops a crush on the much younger Tony, while the Rizzos' children, Vince Jr. (Ezra Miller) and Vivian (Dominik García-Lorido), harbor their own secrets: Vince Jr. finds himself addicted to pornography that combines large women and food, while Vivian is working as a stripper to pay her college tuition. Will all of the family's secrets finally tear them apart, or will they eventually find in them and through one another the bonds of trust, love, and kinship they never new they had?

First things first: City Island can be a terribly obnoxious film. No, it has nothing to do with the story, the direction, production values, or anything like that. City Island is a generically sound movie from a structural standpoint. It won't win any production, direction, sound, or editing awards; it's actually kind of boring in just how average it is. It's an everyday, good-looking, well-made movie, but that's often hidden behind what can be some of the most mind-numbing, ear-splitting, "just shoot me now" arguments between family members ever depicted in a film. Granted, that's the crux of the story -- a family in crisis and with plenty of secrets to keep from one another -- but the movie's just too darn effective in the way it depicts the fights. The arguments, the shouting, the talking over one another gets really old, really fast -- and not to mention repetitive to a fault -- but through it all there's a charm to the picture that almost makes up for all the stress of having to endure the cast going at one another like, well, a family in turmoil. Nevertheless, one has tip his or her cap to the actors for going along with all of the fighting and making it seem real to the point of driving the detached third-party observing audience to the brink of insanity; it's a sign of both fine performances and of the film accomplishing what it sets out to do, and underneath it all the picture finds a sweetness and even something of a calming influence when it's all said and done, leaving the craziness behind in favor of the good vibes that define the picture's finale.

City Island's back-and-forth sweet-and-sour tone doesn't hinder one's ability to enjoy the picture. City Island makes for an easy watch thanks not only to a story line that's surprisingly engaging underneath all the ugliness surrounding it, but also to the excellent performances of the cast. It's always interesting to see those rare occurrences where a real, seasoned actor is asked to play a part that requires of him to try to be an actor, and fail miserably at it. Andy Garcia pulls it off incredibly well; he's capable of playing is part as Vince to pitch-perfect success in one instance, transforming into Vince Rizzo the bumbling wannabe actor a moment later, and returning to his "real" acting on a dime. Garcia is excellent in the role, finding a wonderful, lovable balance as a struggling father who only wants what's good for his family but nevertheless finds himself hiding something as innocent as acting classes for fear of further tearing it apart. He and Steven Strait find good chemistry as a reunited father-son tandem, even if the son doesn't know from the beginning how he's connected with his father. Strait shows some acting chops here that were missing in 10,000 BC; it's amazing what a better story and script can do for an actor. Julianna Margulies, Dominik García-Lorido, and Ezra Miller are all good in their parts, but the real show-stopper is Emily Mortimer as Vince's secret acting pal Molly. She's perfectly cast as the sweet, calming influence in Vince's life; her performance is breezy, affable, even a bit flirtatious, but Mortimer keeps the character grounded to the point that she doesn't offer to Vince too much of a sexual temptation to further complicate the movie, though she's just dangerous and sexy enough to be cause for alarm for Vince's wife. Mortimer and Garcia light up the screen in every scene they share, and no doubt the couple elevates City Island from "average Family drama" to "high quality Family drama."

City Island Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Anchor Bay brings City Island to Blu-ray with a nice looking but not problem-free 1080p, 1.78:1-framed transfer. Generally, this image enjoys good-to-exceptional detailing in general objects such as clothes and faces, but it also excels down at the background level, too, revealing the finest details in dented and scraped lockers, for instance. Colors are bright and steady; Vince's blue correctional shirt in particular stands out. However, the image appears rather smooth and flat; grain is kept to a minium and the image takes on a fairly glossy look. Slight ringing, a few scattered and relatively thick halos, and several fuzzy and soft shots are to be seen here and there during the movie. Black levels are usually rock-solid but appear a bit too absorbing in a couple of shots, and the image suffers under some sloppy noise during several extended nighttime or low-light scenes. Meanwhile, flesh tones fluctuate all over the spectrum, from ghastly pale to excessively red. Still, for all the listed problems, they only appear here and there; City Island generally looks very nice at-a-glance. Anchor Bay's transfer is competent but not breathtaking; fans shouldn't be too disappointed with the results.

City Island Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

City Island's PCM 5.1 uncompressed soundtrack delivers an adequate listen that does everything well but never reaches the upper echelons of high definition soundtracks. This is a fairly basic track that's primarily dialogue- and music-driven; the spoken word never suffers through any major problems, and music is nicely spaced across the front, whether the instrumental score's lighter notes or the heavier, thumping elements heard during strip club scenes. Bass is involved usually as a companion to the music; it's better established and more natural when alongside the instrumental score, but as it gets heavier during the strip club scenes, it tends to lose its edge and seems content to just crank out as much noise as possible without concern for accuracy and realism. The track captures a few ambient effects, but the surrounds aren't used extensively throughout the picture. City Island's uncompressed track gets the job done without doing too much wrong and without going above and beyond the call of duty; it's sure to satisfy most listeners, but it's not the sort of track that's going to leave any lasting impression, either positive or negative.

City Island Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Both Clam Diggers and Muscle Suckers will be pleased with the nice little assortment of extras found on Anchor Bay's Blu-ray release of City Island. First up is an audio commentary track with Writer/Producer/Director Raymond De Felitta and Actor/Producer Andy Garcia. The two deliver a quality commentary that covers most of the pertinent issues, including the history of the project, the geography of the real City Island locale, casting, the themes of the story, and more. This isn't a must-listen, but fans with a couple of hours to kill might want to give it a try. Dinner With the Rizzos (480p, 16:09) features Andy Garcia, Julianna Margulies, Dominik García-Lorido, Steven Strait, and Raymond De Felitta sitting around the dinner table and discussing the movie. Also included is the City Island trailer (1080p, 2:29); several deleted scenes (480p, 15:36); and additional 1080p trailers for Solitary Man, After.Life, Beyond a Reasonable Doubt, and Sunshine Cleaning. Disc two of this set contains a digital copy of City Island. On-the-go viewers will be pleased if they watch the film on the iPhone 4's "Retina Display." Details and colors are nicely realized, and shadows aren't overly-populated with distracting compression artifacts. The soundtrack is basic, delivering clear dialogue and spreading out a few nice sound effects off to the sides of the two headphone channels.

City Island Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

City Island can be an obnoxious, fingernails-on-chalkboard type of movie when the going gets rough around the dinner table and in the lives of its characters, but Writer/Director Raymond De Felitta's picture nevertheless finds an underlying sweetness behind the mayhem and is certain to leave viewers smiling rather than cringing. An all-around good movie, City Island is nothing special in terms of its technical prowess, but it does feature several fine performances, notably from leads Andy Garcia and Emily Mortimer, who make for an excellent pairing and electrify every scene they share. Anchor Bay's Blu-ray release of City Island is of an average quality all the way around. The picture and sound are stable while the grouping of extra content should satisfy fans. City Island comes recommended.