City Island (2009)

The Rizzos, a family who doesn't share their habits, aspirations, and careers with one another, find their delicate web of lies disturbed by the arrival of a young ex-con (Strait) brought ... See full summary »

Director:

Raymond De Felitta

Writer:

Raymond De Felitta

Stars:

Andy Garcia, Julianna Margulies, Steven Strait

2 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Andy Garcia	...	Vince Rizzo
Julianna Margulies	...	Joyce Rizzo
Steven Strait	...	Tony
Emily Mortimer	...	Molly
Ezra Miller	...	Vince Jr.
Dominik García-Lorido	...	Vivian Rizzo
Carrie Baker Reynolds	...	Denise
Hope Glendon-Ross	...	Cheryl
Alan Arkin	...	Michael Malakov
Louis Mustillo	...	Bruno
Jee Young Han	...	Casting Assistant
Sarah Saltzberg	...	Casting Director
Curtiss Cook	...	Matt Cruniff
Sharon Angela	...	Tanya
Marianne Ebert	...	Ezmalia (as Marianni Ebert)

Storyline

The Rizzos, a family who doesn't share their habits, aspirations, and careers with one another, find their delicate web of lies disturbed by the arrival of a young ex-con (Strait) brought home by Vince (Garcia), the patriarch of the family, who is a corrections officer in real life, and a hopeful actor in private.

---

Plot Keywords:

ferrari | website | acting teacher | pull ups | cell phone | 

---

Taglines:

Truth is stranger than family

---

Genres:

Comedy | Drama

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for sexual content, smoking and language

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official site [France]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

23 July 2009 (Russia)

Also Known As:

Asuntos de familia

Filming Locations:

City Island, Bronx, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$6,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$32,001 (USA) (19 March 2010)

Gross:

$6,670,712 (USA) (27 August 2010)

Company Credits

Production Co:

CineSon Entertainment, Medici Entertainment, Lucky Monkey Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

104 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Michelle Pfeiffer was the first offered the female lead. She and Andy Garcia had worked together before and it was hoped that Pfeiffer's participation would be enough to secure much needed financing and distribution. According to Pfeiffer's agent, the actress liked the script, but was reading other projects at the time and after a few weeks passed.

---

Goofs

The word "Associate" Producers is misspelled in the credits.

---

Quotes

Vince Rizzo: Did you sleep outside last night?
Vince Jr.: No, no, no. I did heroin with a bunch of prostitutes at the Plaza Hotel. I'm thinking of becoming a pimp.
Vince Rizzo: Good. I'll see you later.

---

Connections

References On the Waterfront (1954)

User Reviews

Island Deluxe!!!

This movie "City Island" will take any city by storm! Writer-Director Raymond De Fellita's engaging & entertainment gem has been transported to my fantastical island of quality film-fare. Cuban-American thespian icon Andy Garcia stars as Vince Rizzo, a New York prison guard (I mean correctional officer) who resides in a New York suburban island called… see movie title. Vince has always aspired to be an actor but he has never told his family of his "wanna-be" thespian affairs. Julianna Margulies plays Vincent's "good wife" (just had to do it, it was too good) Joyce; in reality Joyce is not too good and has smoking passions of her own, but nevertheless she is the fervent mother of the Rizzo clan. Ezra Miller plays Vince Jr., the Rizzo teenage kid that has some hefty passions of his own that are unknown to his family. Dominik Garcia-Lorido, Andy's real-life daughter, plays daughter Vivian; a college student whose financial tuition difficulties have stripped her of all her money so she decides to be a stripper, of course not providing that naked truth to her family. And then we get a strait man enter the picture, that would be in the form of Steven Strait who portrays Tony Nardella, a convict prisoner who Vince takes under his wing to the Rizzo residence because of a deep secret; to be strait with you he just might be Vince's lovechild. Emily Mortimer plays Molly, a lonely acting student who Vince befriends. And we even get another Alan Arkin sighting in a dysfunctional family film, which is always a welcome. Arkin plays Vince & Molly's acting teacher. All this Rizzo secret madness is wrapped up into a convoluted, but yet, engaging narrative that you will most certainly adore. All the performances are first-rate! But the acting-god father of the group is definitely highlighted by Andy Garcia's charismatic & whimsical starring performance as Vince Rizzo. He belongs in Oscar Island at next year's Academy Awards with a Best Actor nomination. Marguiles was marvelous as Joyce, and Strait was straight as an arrow with his thespian work as Tony. And of course, much felicidades goes out to Writer-Director Raymond De Fellita for his comedic-delicious functional script on a dysfunctional New York family and his functional direction of the side-splitting narrative. So my friends, grab on to your cinematic passport and get on that pleasurable movie cruise to "City Island". ***** Excellent