City Island (film)

City Island
Promotional poster
Directed by	Raymond De Felitta
Produced by	Raymond De Felitta Andy García Lauren Versel Zachary Matz
Written by	Raymond De Felitta
Starring	Andy Garcia Julianna Margulies Steven Strait Emily Mortimer Ezra Miller Dominik Garcia-Lorido Alan Arkin
Music by	Jan A.P. Kaczmarek
Cinematography	Vanja Cernjul
Editing by	David Leonard
Studio	CineSon Entertainment Medici Entertainment NovaStar Digital
Distributed by	Anchor Bay Films
Release date(s)	February 6, 2009 (2009-02-06) (EFM) March 19, 2010 (2010-03-19)
Running time	104 minutes [1]
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$6 million[2]
Box office	$7,875,862[2]

City Island is a 2009 American comedy-drama film directed and written by Raymond De Felitta and starring Andy García, Julianna Margulies and Alan Arkin. It premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York City on April 26, 2009. The title refers to the Bronx's City Island, where the film is set.

Plot

Living on City Island, in the Bronx, Vince Rizzo (Andy García), a prison guard, is the father of a dysfunctional family whose members all have secrets. Vince discovers that his secret illegitimate son is now the 24-year-old prison inmate Tony Nardella (Steven Strait) who is being held in the same prison where he works. Without revealing this truth to his family, Vince consequently gets Tony out of prison and employs him as hired help at his own home in order to become closer with his unknowing son. Vince has also been secretly taking acting lessons, taught by Michael Malakov (Alan Arkin), and begins to form a platonic bond with Molly (Emily Mortimer), another aspiring actor.

Meanwhile, Vince's 20-year-old daughter, Vivian (Dominik Garcia-Lorido, the real life daughter of Andy García, her onscreen father), has not told her family that she has been suspended from college, lost her scholarship, gotten breast implants, and has become a stripper to try and pay for her next semester; their youngest teenage child, Vinnie (Ezra Miller), has a secret sexual fetish for feeding women, feederism, and fantasizes about their obese next-door neighbor; and Vince's wife, Joyce (Julianna Margulies), thinking she has lost all marital intimacy, sexually pursues Tony without realizing that he is her stepson.

Vince successfully auditions for a part in a Martin Scorsese film, while his wife and Tony seek each other's sexual attention. Vince, Jr. befriends his obese neighbor, who helps to bring him closer to an overweight girl who he has been attracted to at school.

Tensions rise as the family's many dysfunctions come to a head. Tony, finally deciding to escape the insanity of the Rizzo household, steals their car only to find Vivian working at the strip club he visits. Just before the group is nearly torn apart in a violent outburst, Vince reveals the truth about everything, with Tony discovering in amazement that the dysfunctional family he sought to escape is actually his own. Vivian and the others admit their faults and Vince acknowledges the family's problems with the desire to work them out. The finally relieved group reunites in forgiveness toward one another, welcoming the overwhelmed Tony as a new member of their bizarre but loving family.

Cast

• Andy García as Vince Rizzo
• Julianna Margulies as Joyce Rizzo
• Steven Strait as Tony Nardella
• Emily Mortimer as Molly Charlesworth
• Ezra Miller as Vincent "Vinnie" Rizzo, Jr.
• Dominik Garcia-Lorido as Vivian Rizzo
• Alan Arkin as Michael Malakov
• Carrie Baker Reynolds as Denise
• Hope Glendon-Ross as Cheryl

Reception

City Island received generally positive reviews, holding an 81% "fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with the consensus "Raymond De Felitta combines warmth, humanity, and a natural sense of humor, and is abetted by Andy Garcia and an excellent ensemble cast."^[3] On Metacritic, which uses an average of the critics' reviews, the film has a 66/100, indicating "generally favorable reviews".^[4]

As for box office, the film was a minor success, grossing $6,671,036 domestically and $7,875,862 worldwide based on a $6 million budget.^[2]

References

1. ^ "City Island (12A)". British Board of Film Classification. 2010-05-28. http://www.bbfc.co.uk/AFV268947/. Retrieved 2011-10-06. 
2. ^ ^{a b c} City Island at Box Office Mojo
3. ^ City Island at Rotten Tomatoes
4. ^ City Island at Metacritic

External links

• Official website
• City Island at the Internet Movie Database
• City Island at AllRovi
• City Island at Box Office Mojo
• City Island at Rotten Tomatoes
• City Island at Metacritic