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Very disappointing...

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Evidently inspired by a true story, the titular "City by the Sea" refers to Long Beach, New York, a decaying seaside town, where much of the action takes place. When a drug deal goes awry, a junkie named Joey kills the dealer, and, together with his buddy, he tosses the body into the sea. Eventually, the dealer's corpse washes up in Manhattan, where two cops are called in to investigate. In a bizarre twist of fate, one of the cops is Joey's estranged father. Meanwhile, Spyder, the local drug boss, displeased by the killing of one of his men and eager to regain respect in the neighborhood, also pursues Joey. In this gritty, downbeat story, few uplifting moments mitigate the tale of drugs, crime, and a supremely dysfunctional family.The cast is strong, and Robert De Niro as Vincent LaMarca, the cop pursuing his son, a suspected murderer, gives good performance as expected; LaMarca struggles not only with having to arrest his son, but also with his own past and the haunting legacy of his father. James Franco is a standout as Joey, the addict struggling with addiction and his father's abandonment. Frances McDormand is always an engaging actress, and, as Michelle, DeNiro's patient girl friend, she plays a woman who knows where she stands in life and the limits of her tolerance. Patti Lupone, the shrewish ex-wife, effectively lays all the blame for their son's problems on DeNiro, while George Dzundzas gives a low-key performance as Reg, DeNiro's loyal partner.Based on an article by Mike McAlary, Ken Hixon's screenplay slowly probes the shadows of LaMarca's multi-generational past and unveils Joey's secrets as well. Filmed in Asbury Park, New Jersey, the film is better than average, and director Michael Caton-Jones maintains a decent pace, although he can do little to brighten a gloomy story. The LaMarca family has decayed like the city of Long Beach; dark roots from the past reach up to strangle succeeding generations and threaten a future one. Fine performances, especially by Franco, make "City by the Sea" worthy viewing, although a stiff drink or a Valium may be required to lift viewers' moods afterwards.

Drug addict Joey LaMarca (James Franco) defends himself and kills dealer Picasso. He is injured and goes home to his skeptical mother (Patti LuPone). His estranged father NYPD homicide detective Vincent LaMarca (Robert De Niro) and his partner Reg Duffy (George Dzundza) are given the case of the dead drug dealer. Spyder (William Forsythe) is also after his associate's killer. Michelle (Frances McDormand) is Vincent's girlfriend. Gina (Eliza Dushku) is Joey's girlfriend and baby mama. Fellow addict Snake rats out Joey.There are good actors doing solid work. This material could be given a more grim style. This represents a slow slide in the quality of director Michael Caton-Jones. This should be a more intense thriller and a more heart-breaking tragedy. I keep thinking that this movie should be better. The biographical nature does muddy the story. There is an overall lack of intensity.

***SPOILERS*** Since he was eight years old NYPD homicide Detective Vincent LaMarco, Robert De Niro, had to live with the terrible memory that his father was a child murderer who was executed for his crime at Sing Sing prison. As a husband and father Vincent wasn't all that successful either having a broken marriage as well as his estranged son Joey, James Franco, ending up on the streets or boardwalk in Vincent's former home town of Long Beach as a junkie. It's when Joey got into an altercation with his drug supplier Pacassio, Jay Boryes, that lead to the dealer death, with Joey stabbing him in self defense, that finally got father and son together under the most trying and dangerous of circumstances.It's actor Robert DeNiro's incredible performance as heart broken and guilt ridden Vincent LaMarco that really stands out in the movie "City by the Sea". Trying to get his fugitive son to give himself up has Vincent's partner Detective Reg Duffy, George Dezundza, track down Joey in this abandoned warehouse in Long Beach where he's been hiding. It's there where Duffy is gunned down not by joey but drug supplier Spyder, William Forsythe. Spyder mistook Duffy for Joey whom he was out to get for killing one of his street pushers the late Paccisso. Now with the death of a policeman, as well as his father's partner Det. Reg Duffy, on his head Joey is a dead man walking unless his policeman dad Vincent DeMarco can bring him into custody before the local as well as NY police get to him first.***SPOILERS*** With Detective DeMarco putting both his job as well as life on the line he finally gets his son Joey to stop running and meet with him on the Long Beach boardwalk to arrange to give himself up. That after Vincent uncovered evidence that it was in fact Spyder, who was since shot to death by Joey in defending his father, not him who murdered his partner Detective Duffy. Still it took a lot of convincing on Vincent's part to get Joey to give himself up even with him taking a bullet, from a police sniper, for him. Vincent DeMarco was always living not only with the thought of his father being an executed child murderer but in him abandoning both his wife Maggie, Patti LuPone, and son Joey when they needed him most. It was this act of self sacrifice on Vincent's part that in the end more then made up for all that!

This film is just awful. The only redeeming quality this film possesses is that they cast Eliza Dushku.That's it, folks. The people saying that it was good have an optimism complex larger than John Goodman. From Frances McDormand's awkward body language (and face touching) to Bob DeNiro's stilted play-up of father/son tensions to John Forsythe's contrived bad guy persona, this movie is downright terrible. I was surprised to learn it was made in 2002, since the score made it sound like it was from the mid-90s.And the fact that Eliza Dushku is hot doesn't really matter since she disappears 3/4 of the way through the movie after telling Bobby DeNiro that she is going back to using again. This is after the audience got no indication that she was having any trouble, and even witnessed her tell James Franco's character to stay clean earlier on.The film just tries way too hard to be dark. The drug use is visually brief, but referenced throughout. The setting is good (Long Beach, NY), but there's very little past-to-present context besides a few comments by the cast. The father/son element is meant to be two-fold, with DeNiro playing a guy battling his own father and his own son's fates, but by the end of the movie you can tell the writers did not have fun playing with that material.If I could give it negative stars, I would.