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'City By the Sea': police drama guilty of cliche
By Robyn Washington
Graphics Editor

There is no shortage of police dramas in American entertainment.

Between television and film, virtually every conceivable variation on the familiar theme has been proffered to the viewing audience.

However, occasionally a film offers a new perspective on the curiosity that is American law enforcement.

Unfortunately, City by the Sea is not such a movie.

The story centers on Vincent LaMarca, a New York City detective played by Robert De Niro. It was inspired by a 1997 Esquire article, "Mark of a Murderer," by journalist Mike McAlary.

LaMarca learns that his estranged, drug-addicted son Joey (James Franco) has killed at least one man and may also have murdered another, a police officer.

The film tells the story of LaMarca’s quest to both learn the truth and take advantage of his second chance to be a true father to his son.

The film is full of all the necessary police stereotypes. You have the detective on a personal quest who is up against an unsympathetic lieutenant and a police force that has abandoned him (save the one young detective who admires him).

You have the scene where the detective visits the distraught widow of the fallen officer, and of course the inevitable scene where an officer turns in his badge and gun.

The plot of City by the Sea is a weak backbone that stretches the body of the film.

Fortunately, however, the film manages to become less about that primary plot and more about the secondary scenarios and relationships therein, which give the film ample structure and substance.

The strength of this film lies in the presentations of the relationships between LaMarca and his son and girlfriend (played by Frances McDormand). Both De Niro and Franco (most recently seen as Harry Osborn in Spiderman), who plays LaMarca’s son, give thoroughly convincing and at times poignant performances.

McDormand’s role as LaMarca’s girlfriend is minor, but she masterfully becomes the subdued yet powerful standard by which we measure what kind of man our hero is and what kind of man he ought to be.

From a mediocre script and plot come some carefully nuanced examinations of basic human relationships: father to son, husband to wife, mother to child, man to woman.

Additionally, a large portion of the film is shot against the barren backdrop of Long Beach, N.Y., giving the film a subtle yet undeniable pathos.

While City by the Sea will not keep you guessing, or leave you raving about that unexpected, last-minute plot twist, it is certainly a film worth seeing. I give it a final exam score of B-.