City Island

We haven’t seen any movies in a while because there just don’t seem to be many right now that look appealing. Saw Johnny Depp in Alice in Wonderland almost a month ago and found it nearly completely forgettable. Someone recommended City Island, with Andy Garcia and Julianna Margulies. I’ve become a big fan of Julianna Margulies since her role in The Good Wife, finding her Morticia Addams looks on G.W. amazingly attractive, so I was more than willing to see her in this movie. I don’t think Rosalie is nearly as attracted to her as I am. But neither of us was disappointed.

Entertainment Weekly gave it a lukewarm review, but they seem to be in the minority, with a majority of viewers rating it at least four out of five stars. We’d be among that last group. What a nice feel-good flick. The story centers on the family of Garcia and Margulies, who live in the Bronx community called City Island: their son and daughter, and the young man Garcia brings home from the prison where he works as a guard (correction officer, he is quick to tell everyone), and the lies each of them is living. The audience is privy to all the lies, and we know the climax will be that point when the lies are revealed. The parents both smoke, but lie to each other about it. The son has a secret fat fetish. The daughter is secretly a stripper. The young man is really Garcia’s son by a woman he lived with briefly in his youth. Garcia also lies to his wife about where he goes one night a week, to play poker, he tells her, but he’s really attending an acting class.

The only weakness may be that it’s a little contrived and unsurprising in its outcome, but who cares. It’s so nice to be able to see a movie without having to work through blue language and blue situations, to leave the theater smiling. Go see it. You’ll smile too.