This movie "City Island" will take any city by storm! Writer-Director Raymond De Fellita's engaging & entertainment gem has been transported to my fantastical island of quality film-fare. Cuban-American thespian icon Andy Garcia stars as Vince Rizzo, a New York prison guard (I mean correctional officer) who resides in a New York suburban island called
see movie title. Vince has always aspired to be an actor but he has never told his family of his "wanna-be" thespian affairs. Julianna Margulies plays Vincent's "good wife" (just had to do it, it was too good) Joyce; in reality Joyce is not too good and has smoking passions of her own, but nevertheless she is the fervent mother of the Rizzo clan. Ezra Miller plays Vince Jr., the Rizzo teenage kid that has some hefty passions of his own that are unknown to his family. Dominik Garcia-Lorido, Andy's real-life daughter, plays daughter Vivian; a college student whose financial tuition difficulties have stripped her of all her money so she decides to be a stripper, of course not providing that naked truth to her family. And then we get a strait man enter the picture, that would be in the form of Steven Strait who portrays Tony Nardella, a convict prisoner who Vince takes under his wing to the Rizzo residence because of a deep secret; to be strait with you he just might be Vince's lovechild. Emily Mortimer plays Molly, a lonely acting student who Vince befriends. And we even get another Alan Arkin sighting in a dysfunctional family film, which is always a welcome. Arkin plays Vince & Molly's acting teacher. All this Rizzo secret madness is wrapped up into a convoluted, but yet, engaging narrative that you will most certainly adore. All the performances are first-rate! But the acting-god father of the group is definitely highlighted by Andy Garcia's charismatic & whimsical starring performance as Vince Rizzo. He belongs in Oscar Island at next year's Academy Awards with a Best Actor nomination. Marguiles was marvelous as Joyce, and Strait was straight as an arrow with his thespian work as Tony. And of course, much felicidades goes out to Writer-Director Raymond De Fellita for his comedic-delicious functional script on a dysfunctional New York family and his functional direction of the side-splitting narrative. So my friends, grab on to your cinematic passport and get on that pleasurable movie cruise to "City Island". ***** Excellent
Review of City Island
