City Island

Directed by Raymond De Felitta

(PG-13)

**

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Everyone has something to hide in City Island, a contrived but amusing farce from Raymond De Felitta, said John Anderson in The Washington Post. The Rizzos live on City Island, the oddly bucolic seaport village located in the Bronx. Each member of the family harbors a well-kept secret. Andy Garcia plays the father, a prison guard who takes acting lessons in hopes of scoring a part in a new Martin Scorsese film. Julianna Margulies, as the mother, sneaks cigarettes to relieve stress caused by suspicions about her husband’s fidelity. The family’s skeletons come tumbling out in a rush, said David Denby in The New Yorker. The daughter works as a stripper, the son visits online sites dedicated to overweight women—and there turns out to be an illegitimate child, to boot. While individual revelations can be amusing, the humor as a whole is “one step above a TV sitcom.” City Island works best as an “actors’ showcase,” said Melissa Anderson in The Village Voice. Together, the likable ensemble creates an “affectionate portrait” of a struggling, striving clan.