City Island: DVD Review

City Island: DVD Review

City Island
Released by Madman
Rating: M

City Island sees the welcome return of Andy Garcia to the big screen.

He's Vincent Rizzo, a corrections officer and the head of the Rizzo family who live in City Island just over from New York's Bronx district.

Married to his beautiful wife Joyce (ER's Margulies) and with two kids, the Rizzos are dysfunctional in the extreme.

One day at work, Vince finds out one of the inmates is his son Tony from a previous relationship - and upon learning of Tony's mother's death, and without telling him why, Vince brings Tony back to the Rizzo home.

But this generous action serves only as a catalyst to bring the carefully spun web of lies crashing down.

City Island is a delightful treat - primarily because of Garcia. He's so solid in everything he does that when he gets a chance to lead a film you almost forget what a wonderful character actor he is. As the head of the household, he personifies charm and despite the melodramatic nature of the plot, he keeps it all together.

Along with Julianna Margulies, this film has a wonderful cast - including Alan Arkin as Vince's acting class teacher - and a script which is grounded in a degree of reality. It's also a lot funnier than expected.

Extras: Commentary, mini featurette and deleted scenes - a reasonable offering

Rating: 7/10