SummaryThe gripping story of a dedicated police officer who discovers that the chief suspect in his current murder investigation is his own son. (Warner Bros.)
Directed By:Michael Caton-Jones
Written By:Mike McAlary, Ken Hixon
City by the Sea
Metascore
Mixed or Average
50
User score
Generally Favorable
6.1
My Score
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Top Cast
Metascore
Mixed or Average
50
47% Positive
16 Reviews
16 Reviews
44% Mixed
15 Reviews
15 Reviews
9% Negative
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
80
For the first time in years, De Niro digs deep emotionally, perhaps because he's been stirred by the powerful work of his co-stars, including a subtle Frances McDormand and a ferocious Patti LuPone, as well as the heartbreaking (and achingly beautiful) Franco.
70
Calls on De Niro to drum up the sort of emotional intensity that's been allowed to atrophy of late. City By The Sea isn't always worthy of him, but it makes enough demands to bring out his best.
63
Suffers from dialogue that often sounds like convenient exposition as well as from a climax that feels too pat and prosaic. But the film is peppered with small, explosive scenes that have a refreshing complexity.
60
The cast and the direction are too good, in the end, for the rather desultory place the movie ends up.
50
Has trouble seeming real. Its back story, involving the sins of Detective LaMarca's own father, feels contrived and the eventual resolution is simultaneously shaky and too pat.
40
There's nothing wrong with a little creative license, but the abundance of self-serving fabrication in City by the Sea not only diminishes LaMarca's experience and cheapens McAlary's work, it all but desecrates the memory of the real murder victim.
30
Yields the same sort of archetype and the usual results: De Niro's workmanlike in a dismayingly familiar role.
User score
Generally Favorable
6.1
56% Positive
9 Ratings
9 Ratings
25% Mixed
4 Ratings
4 Ratings
19% Negative
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
Feb 6, 2017
7
The acting was good, the story was interesting, the movie was well made and it was pretty entertaining. There were a few plot holes here and there and the ending was disappointing, but, overall, it was an enjoyable drama.
Feb 2, 2013
4
Imagine eating five or six pieces of toast as a meal, wouldn't you be left feeling like, "Is this it?!?" It isn't that there is anything wrong with toast, but piece after piece it wouldn't make for much of a meal in it of itself. In the same way, City by the Sea just didn't leave me satisfied. It wasn't that there was anything blaringly wrong with it, but it never presented any interesting flavors to savor; it just bored me. Things picked up later in the movie, and I did like the poignancy of the ending, but I just didn't think it was worth the wait to get there. The trailer makes it look like an edge of your seat thriller it is not.
Production Company:
- Franchise Pictures
- Epsilon Motion Pictures
- Brad Grey Pictures
- Sea Breeze Productions Inc.
Release Date:Sep 6, 2002
Duration:1 h 48 m
Rating:R
Tagline:When you're searching for a killer... the last suspect you want to see is your son.
Awards
Chlotrudis Awards
• 1 Nomination
