Although most of the story has been reimagined for dramatic purposes, there's a real-life tragic weirdness at the heart of CITY BY THE SEA: a New York cop was not only the son of a convicted murderer but also the father of a killer.
Unlike the tabloid hysteria that drifts through the background of the film and very likely surfaced in real life, CITY BY THE SEA doesn't give a moment's serious thought to the notion of a "murder gene." Instead, it soberly notes the trajectory of Joey La Marca (James Franco), who deals with despair, his mother's bitterness and his father's absence by taking drugs. One night, in a seedy section of Long Beach, NY, a transaction goes bad, Joey is attacked and, in the fracas that follows, stabs a dealer to death. Joey and his pal dump the body, but it eventually washes up and the police are called in.
Enter homicide detective Vince La Marca (Robert De Niro), a respected and dedicated veteran who has worked all his life to live down the stigma of being the son of an executed killer (although the father's crime turns out to be accidental, one of the movie's several efforts to soften plot points to make everybody more sympathetic). Vince and his partner (George Dzundza) quickly find a material witness who names Joey as the killer. Vince is shattered he hasn't actually seen his son in years, due both to a calamitous marital breakup that has Joey's mom (Patti LuPone) still seething at her ex even now and another, more complex concern that comes to light late in the proceedings. Vince wants the opportunity to get Joey to turn himself in. Things are quite dark and complicated enough without a few added problems that Vince will learn about, one being Joey's sometime girlfriend Gina (Eliza Dushku) and the other being the dead dealer's partner (William Forsythe), who is out for blood.
CITY BY THE SEA James Franco and Robert De Niro star in CITY BY THE SEA. © 2002 Warner Bros.is technically a crime drama and it has its bouts of well-staged violence, but at its heart, it is proudly a melodrama. The screenplay by Ken Hixon and the direction of Michael Caton-Jones embrace their subject matter with such enthusiastic assurance that they avoid camp, even when characters have heart to hearts under what could be termed extreme duress. What the film does with remarkable skill is function both as a thriller we do genuinely worry as to who is going to get to whom first and as an exploration of the long-term effects of avoiding parental responsibility, two elements that often do not coexist successfully on screen together.
De Niro is excellent as the quiet, closed-off man suddenly forced to deal with every issue he's tried to avoid for most of his life. Franco does a good job as Joey, though he perhaps works a little too hard at showing us that the character is dense (Joey's actions speak for themselves in that regard). Supporting performances from Dushku and from Frances McDormand as Vince's girlfriend are highlights both give the movie vibrant tension whenever they appear and Forsythe is one scary customer as the vengeful dealer.
CITY BY THE SEA has some moments of overkill and the filmmakers occasionally don't know when to quit they tend to let characters spell things out, even when it seems they'd more likely hold them in. However, some of their gambles pay off when Vince tells his feeling-left-out lover what's been going on lately, the scene is affecting, funny and almost outrageous, with McDormand going through a terrific gamut of wordless responses. Mostly, Caton-Jones, Hixon and the actors keep us engrossed. CITY BY THE SEA feels like a good '50s melodrama it's demonstrably larger than life, but we get caught up in caring about the people and the outcome all the same.
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