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Eagerly anticipating this week ... (14-24)
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1/31/2015

City Island (2009) - Felitta's dramedy masterpiece



+ Best New York Movie of the Year

A neat mix of photography and drawing that gives hints to the secrets of the characters in Raymond De Felitta's City Island


QUICK REVIEW:

Outside of New York City, on City Island, lives a family of convinced liars. The father hides his secret son in a shed and secretly attends acting classes in the city. The mother flirts with infidelity. The daughter strips. And the son has a kink. - And they all secretly smoke.

City Island is a wonderfully written gem of coming clean and finding a way to come together. Importantly, it never becomes viscid in any way, but retains realism throughout. It is incredibly well-acted: Particularly by Julianna Margulies (The Good Wife (2009-15)), Ezra Miller (The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012)), Alan Arkin (Little Miss Sunshine (2006)) and Andy Garcia (Rob The Mob (2014)) as the film's super-involved dream leader, who shows the way for the rest of the cast without shaking for a millisecond.
City Island is a highly engaging, funny, exciting modern dramedy classic. - Don't miss this masterpiece!
It is written and directed by New York-born filmmaker Raymond De Felitta, who debuted in 1995 with Cafe Society, after being Oscar-nominated for his short Bronx Cheers (1990). He has made other features and a couple of documentaries since, and most recently Rob the Mob, (regrettably) still to be found high on Film Excess' watch list.
Film Excess favorite Miller's turn in the long-awaited Madame Bovary (2014) has been released last year, but only very limited so far. This year he will be seen in Judd Apatow's much-anticipated Trainwreck (2015), - again  alongside Tilda Swinton, - and in the eerily sounding The Stanford Prison Experiment (2015), alongside a slew of other young, happening actors. - Exciting!

Related posts:

2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]
2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I] 


Andy Garcia brought down in Raymond De Felitta's City Island

The lovely Ezra Miller in Raymond De Felitta's City Island

Andy Garcia studies Brando on this character poster for Raymond De Felitta's City Island

Julianna Margulies raises her glass on this character poster for Raymod De Felitta's City Island


Watch the great trailer for the film here

Cost: 6 mil. $
Box office: 7.8 mil. $
= Big flop
[The film won the Audience Award at New York's Tribeca Film Festival, but, unfortunately, it wasn't able to broaden its success out much. It made 6.6 mil. $ (85 % of the total gross) in the States.]

What do you think of City Island?
Have you seen other films by Raymond De Felitta? 
If so, tell about it/them

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